Duck Hawk vs Long-tailed Sylph

Falco peregrinus compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Duck Hawk	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Falconiformes (Falconiformes)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Falconidae	Trochilidae
Genus	Falco	Aglaiocercus
Species	Falco peregrinus	Aglaiocercus kingii

Evolutionary Relationship

Duck Hawk and Long-tailed Sylph share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

Conservation Status

Duck Hawk

LC — Least Concern

Population: ~140.0K

Trend: Increasing ↑

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Duck Hawk	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	Carnivore	—
Average Lifespan	15 years	—
Average Length	48 cm	—
Average Weight	1.0 kg	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Duck Hawk

Habitat

Typically found in diverse ecosystems where prey species are available.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (7 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela).

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Duck Hawk

The fastest animal on the planet, peregrine falcons achieve aerial dive speeds exceeding 320 km/h when stooping on prey, stunning or killing birds in flight with a blow from their feet. Found on every continent except Antarctica in diverse habitats from Arctic tundra to tropical rainforest. Nearly extinct in North America and Europe from DDT poisoning in the 1960s–70s, peregrines recovered dramatically following pesticide bans and successful urban nesting programs.

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.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇨🇴 Colombia 🇪🇨 Ecuador 🇳🇴 Norway 🇻🇪 Venezuela