Long-tailed Sylph vs Nutmeg

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Myristica fragrans

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Nutmeg is Data Deficient.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Nutmeg
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Magnoliales (Magnoliales)
Family	Trochilidae	Myristicaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Myristica
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Myristica fragrans

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Nutmeg

DD — Data Deficient

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Nutmeg
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.

Nutmeg

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Afrotropic and Indomalayan realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Congo (DRC), Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles), Asia (India, Laos, Taiwan), and South America (Brazil).

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.