Long-tailed Sylph vs pale dog violet

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Viola lactea

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while pale dog violet is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	pale dog violet
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Malpighiales (Malpighiales)
Family	Trochilidae	Violaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Viola
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Viola lactea

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

pale dog violet

CR — Critically Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	pale dog violet
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.

pale dog violet

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Belgium 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.