Foxtail vs Long-tailed Sylph

Amaranthus caudatus compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Key Differences

• Foxtail is Not Evaluated while Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Foxtail	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Amaranthaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Amaranthus	Aglaiocercus
Species	Amaranthus caudatus	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

Foxtail

NE — Not Evaluated

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Foxtail	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Foxtail

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (8 countries), Asia (11 countries), Europe (27 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).

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 2 countries:

🇨🇴 Colombia 🇳🇴 Norway