Long-tailed Sylph vs Mountain Stream Siredon

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Ambystoma altamirani

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Mountain Stream Siredon is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Mountain Stream Siredon
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Amphibia (Amphibians)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Caudata (Caudata)
Family	Trochilidae	Ambystomatidae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Ambystoma
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Ambystoma altamirani

Evolutionary Relationship

Long-tailed Sylph and Mountain Stream Siredon share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (Chordates)

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Mountain Stream Siredon

EN — Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Mountain Stream Siredon
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.

Mountain Stream Siredon

Habitat

Typically found in freshwater habitats, moist forests, and wetlands.

Range

Found in Mexico. 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.