Blue-and-yellow Macaw vs Long-tailed Sylph

Ara ararauna compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Blue-and-yellow Macaw	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom same	Animalia (hewan)	Animalia (hewan)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (burung)	Aves (burung)
Order	Psittaciformes (Bayan)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Psittacidae (True Parrots)	Trochilidae
Genus	Ara (Macaws)	Aglaiocercus
Species	Ara ararauna	Aglaiocercus kingii

Evolutionary Relationship

Blue-and-yellow Macaw and Long-tailed Sylph share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (burung)

Conservation Status

Blue-and-yellow Macaw

LC — Least Concern

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Blue-and-yellow Macaw	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Blue-and-yellow Macaw

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela).

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Blue-and-yellow Macaw

One of the most striking and widely kept macaw species, blue-and-yellow macaws display brilliant cobalt blue upper parts contrasting with vivid yellow underparts and green forehead. They inhabit forest, woodland, and savanna from eastern Panama through Venezuela, Brazil, and Bolivia to Peru and Ecuador. Highly intelligent, they live in pairs or small flocks, feeding on palm nuts, seeds, and fruit. Popular in aviculture for over 400 years, they can live 80+ years in captivity.

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 4 countries:

🇨🇴 Colombia 🇪🇨 Ecuador 🇳🇴 Norway 🇻🇪 Venezuela