Long-tailed Sylph vs Spear-Leaved Willowherb

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Epilobium lanceolatum

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Spear-Leaved Willowherb is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Spear-Leaved Willowherb
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Myrtales (Myrtales)
Family	Trochilidae	Onagraceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Epilobium
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Epilobium lanceolatum

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Spear-Leaved Willowherb

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Spear-Leaved Willowherb
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.

Spear-Leaved Willowherb

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Norway, and Portugal. 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