Long-tailed Sylph vs New Forest Beech-Lichen

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Enterographa elaborata

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while New Forest Beech-Lichen is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	New Forest Beech-Lichen
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Arthoniomycetes (Arthoniomycetes)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Arthoniales (Arthoniales)
Family	Trochilidae	Roccellaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Enterographa
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Enterographa elaborata

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

New Forest Beech-Lichen

CR — Critically Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	New Forest Beech-Lichen
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.

New Forest Beech-Lichen

Habitat

Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, and Portugal. Currently classified as Critically 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