Long-tailed Sylph vs Sooty Shield

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Pluteus ephebeus

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Sooty Shield is Data Deficient.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Sooty Shield
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)
Family	Trochilidae	Pluteaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Pluteus
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Pluteus ephebeus

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Sooty Shield

DD — Data Deficient

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Sooty Shield
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.

Sooty Shield

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

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