Long-tailed Sylph vs Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Zygaena lonicerae

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Trochilidae	Zygaenidae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Zygaena
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Zygaena lonicerae

Evolutionary Relationship

Long-tailed Sylph and Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet

EN — Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet
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.

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. 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