Long-tailed Sylph vs Swarming Spine

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Mucronella calva

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Swarming Spine
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)
Family	Trochilidae	Clavariaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Mucronella
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Mucronella calva

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Swarming Spine

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Swarming Spine
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.

Swarming Spine

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (4 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Brazil).

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.