Long-tailed Sylph vs Shadowed Waxcap

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Hygrocybe phaeococcinea

Key Differences

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

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Shadowed Waxcap
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)
Family	Trochilidae	Hygrophoraceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Hygrocybe
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Hygrocybe phaeococcinea

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Shadowed Waxcap

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Shadowed Waxcap
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.

Shadowed Waxcap

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. 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.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway