Long-tailed Sylph vs Olive Brittlegill

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Russula olivacea

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Olive Brittlegill
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Russulales (Russulales)
Family	Trochilidae	Russulaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Russula
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Russula olivacea

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Olive Brittlegill

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Olive Brittlegill
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.

Olive Brittlegill

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Denmark and Taiwan.

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.