Long-tailed Sylph vs Milk Thistle Rust

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Puccinia mariana

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Milk Thistle Rust is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Milk Thistle Rust
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Pucciniomycetes (Pucciniomycetes)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Pucciniales (Pucciniales)
Family	Trochilidae	Pucciniaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Puccinia
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Puccinia mariana

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Milk Thistle Rust

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Milk Thistle Rust
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.

Milk Thistle Rust

Habitat

Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Found in United Kingdom.

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.