Long-tailed Sylph vs Red Beard Lichen

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Usnea rubicunda

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Red Beard Lichen is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Red Beard Lichen
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Lecanoromycetes (Lecanoromycetes)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Lecanorales (Lecanorales)
Family	Trochilidae	Parmeliaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Usnea
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Usnea rubicunda

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Red Beard Lichen

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Red Beard Lichen
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.

Red Beard Lichen

Habitat

Native to Asia and Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (Norway, Portugal, Sweden), North America (United States), and South America (Colombia).

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:

🇨🇴 Colombia 🇳🇴 Norway