Long-tailed Sylph vs White-Crowned Sparrow

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Zonotrichia leucophrys

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while White-Crowned Sparrow is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	White-Crowned Sparrow
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Passeriformes (Songbirds)
Family	Trochilidae	Passerellidae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Zonotrichia
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Zonotrichia leucophrys

Evolutionary Relationship

Long-tailed Sylph and White-Crowned Sparrow share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

White-Crowned Sparrow

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	White-Crowned Sparrow
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.

White-Crowned Sparrow

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (6 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Colombia).

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.

White-Crowned Sparrow

White-Crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is classified as Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List. Not yet evaluated against IUCN Red List criteria. Conservation status remains to be determined.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇨🇴 Colombia 🇳🇴 Norway