Long-tailed Sylph vs Wilson's Plover

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Charadrius wilsonia

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Wilson's Plover
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Charadriiformes (Charadriiformes)
Family	Trochilidae	Charadriidae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Charadrius
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Charadrius wilsonia

Evolutionary Relationship

Long-tailed Sylph and Wilson's Plover share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

View Class: Aves

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Wilson's Plover

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Wilson's Plover
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.

Wilson's Plover

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, United States, and Venezuela.

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.

Wilson's Plover

Wilson's Plover (Charadrius wilsonia) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.