Long-tailed Sylph vs Red-headed Quelea

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Quelea erythrops

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Red-headed Quelea
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Passeriformes (Songbirds)
Family	Trochilidae	Ploceidae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Quelea
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Quelea erythrops

Evolutionary Relationship

Long-tailed Sylph and Red-headed Quelea share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Red-headed Quelea

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Red-headed Quelea
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-headed Quelea

Habitat

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

Range

Found across Asia (United Arab Emirates) and Europe (7 countries).

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.

Red-headed Quelea

Red-headed Quelea (Quelea erythrops) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway