Long-tailed Sylph vs Yabby

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Cherax destructor

Key Differences

• Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Yabby is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Yabby
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Malacostraca (Crustaceans)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Decapoda (Decapoda)
Family	Trochilidae	Parastacidae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Cherax
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Cherax destructor

Evolutionary Relationship

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

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Yabby

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Yabby
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.

Yabby

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate coniferous forests, and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, among 7 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Asia (China), Europe (4 countries), and North America (Mexico). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

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:

🇳🇴 Norway