Devil's Shoestring vs Long-tailed Sylph

Tephrosia angustissima compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Key Differences

• Devil's Shoestring is Endangered while Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Devil's Shoestring	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Fabales (Legumes & Allies)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Fabaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Tephrosia	Aglaiocercus
Species	Tephrosia angustissima	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

Devil's Shoestring

EN — Endangered

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Devil's Shoestring	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Devil's Shoestring

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical coniferous forests, among 5 distinct biome types within the Neotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Found in Cuba. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Long-tailed Sylph

One of the most strikingly ornamented hummingbirds, male long-tailed sylphs have iridescent green plumage and dramatically elongated, ribbon-like outer tail feathers reaching up to 22 cm — over three times the body length. Found in Andean cloud forests of Colombia and Venezuela, they inhabit humid montane forest between 1,400–2,800 meters elevation. Males perform elaborate display flights to attract females. Their extravagant tails are a classic example of sexual selection via female preference.