Long-tailed Sylph vs Yellow Dodder

Aglaiocercus kingii compared with Cuscuta campestris

Key Differences

Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern while Yellow Dodder is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Long-tailed Sylph	Yellow Dodder
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Solanales (Solanales)
Family	Trochilidae	Convolvulaceae
Genus	Aglaiocercus	Cuscuta
Species	Aglaiocercus kingii	Cuscuta campestris

Conservation Status

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Yellow Dodder

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Long-tailed Sylph	Yellow Dodder
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.

Yellow Dodder

Habitat

Inhabits montane grasslands and shrublands and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Palearctic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (22 countries), Asia (22 countries), Europe (33 countries), North America (Canada), Oceania and the Pacific (Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Samoa), and South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile).

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.