Few-flowered Fumitory vs Long-tailed Sylph

Fumaria vaillantii compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Key Differences

• Few-flowered Fumitory is Critically Endangered while Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Few-flowered Fumitory	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Ranunculales (Ranunculales)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Papaveraceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Fumaria	Aglaiocercus
Species	Fumaria vaillantii	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

Few-flowered Fumitory

CR — Critically Endangered

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Few-flowered Fumitory	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Few-flowered Fumitory

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, temperate coniferous forests, and temperate grasslands and steppes, among 4 distinct biome types within the Palearctic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (15 countries), North America (United States), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia). Currently classified as Critically 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.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway