Long-tailed Sylph vs Lost Flat-Body

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Depressaria depressana

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Lost Flat-Body is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Lost Flat-Body
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Trochilidae	Depressariidae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Depressaria
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Depressaria depressana

Evolutionary Relationship

Long-tailed Sylph and Lost Flat-Body share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Lost Flat-Body

EN — Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Lost Flat-Body
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Lost Flat-Body

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and United States. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

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