Long-tailed Sylph vs Peruvian Tern

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Sternula lorata

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Peruvian Tern is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Peruvian Tern
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Charadriiformes (Charadriiformes)
Family	Trochilidae	Laridae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Sternula
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Sternula lorata

Evolutionary Relationship

Long-tailed Sylph and Peruvian Tern share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Peruvian Tern

EN — Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Peruvian Tern
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.

Peruvian Tern

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Ecuador and Norway. Currently classified as 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 2 countries:

🇪🇨 Ecuador 🇳🇴 Norway