Long-tailed Sylph vs Marsh Pea

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Lathyrus palustris

Key Differences

Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Marsh Pea is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Marsh Pea
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Fabales (Legumes & Allies)
Family	Trochilidae	Fabaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Lathyrus
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Lathyrus palustris

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Marsh Pea

EN — Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Marsh Pea
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.

Marsh Pea

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including boreal forests and taiga, Mediterranean forests and woodlands, and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Palearctic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Israel), Europe (7 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and South America (Brazil). 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.