Long-tailed Sylph vs Streamside Swordfern

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Nephrolepis rivularis

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Streamside Swordfern is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Streamside Swordfern
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Tracheophyta
Class	Aves (Birds)	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)
Family	Trochilidae	Nephrolepidaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Nephrolepis
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Nephrolepis rivularis

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Streamside Swordfern

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Streamside Swordfern
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.

Streamside Swordfern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Distributed across Brazil, Colombia, and Cuba.

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:

🇨🇴 Colombia