Long-tailed Sylph vs Redbox

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Eucalyptus polyanthemos

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Redbox is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Redbox
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Myrtales (Myrtales)
Family	Trochilidae	Myrtaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Eucalyptus
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Eucalyptus polyanthemos

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Redbox

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Redbox
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.

Redbox

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Rwanda), Asia (India, Taiwan), Europe (Portugal), North America (United States), and South America (Brazil). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

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.