Long-tailed Sylph vs Pleated Inkcap

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Parasola plicatilis

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Pleated Inkcap
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)
Family	Trochilidae	Psathyrellaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Parasola
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Parasola plicatilis

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Pleated Inkcap

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Pleated Inkcap
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.

Pleated Inkcap

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), North America (United States), 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.