Long-tailed Sylph vs Western Thyme Plume

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Merrifieldia tridactyla

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Western Thyme Plume is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Western Thyme Plume
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Trochilidae	Pterophoridae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Merrifieldia
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Merrifieldia tridactyla

Evolutionary Relationship

Long-tailed Sylph and Western Thyme Plume share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Western Thyme Plume

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Western Thyme Plume
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.

Western Thyme Plume

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate coniferous forests, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, and temperate grasslands and steppes, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Found across Asia (5 countries) and Europe (28 countries). 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.