Long-tailed Sylph vs Nodding sage

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Salvia nutans

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Nodding sage is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Nodding sage
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Lamiales (Lamiales)
Family	Trochilidae	Lamiaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Salvia
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Salvia nutans

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Nodding sage

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Nodding sage
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.

Nodding sage

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Distributed across Estonia, Latvia, Spain, and United States.

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.