Glossy Ibis vs Long-tailed Sylph

Plegadis falcinellus compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Glossy Ibis	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Pelecaniformes (Pelecaniformes)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Threskiornithidae	Trochilidae
Genus	Plegadis	Aglaiocercus
Species	Plegadis falcinellus	Aglaiocercus kingii

Evolutionary Relationship

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

Conservation Status

Glossy Ibis

LC — Least Concern

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Glossy Ibis	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Glossy Ibis

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (8 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.

Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

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