The long-tailed sylph (''Aglaiocercus kingii'') is a species of

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

in the "coquettes", tribe

Lesbiini Lesbiini is one of the two Tribe (biology), tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae in the hummingbird family (biology), family Trochilidae. The other tribe is Heliantheini (brilliants). The informal name "coquettes" has been proposed for th ...

of subfamily

Lesbiinae Lesbiinae is one of the six subfamilies that make up the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The subfamily is divided into two tribes: Heliantheini ("brilliants") containing 14 genera and Lesbiini ("coquettes") containing 18 genera. Phylogeny A mol ...

. It is found in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved May 27, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The taxonomy of genus ''Aglaiocercus'' and of the long-tailed sylph in particular are complicated. The genus also includes two other sylphs, the violet-tailed (''A. coelestis'') and

Venezuelan Venezuelans (Spanish language, Spanish: ''venezolanos'') are the Citizenship, citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connect ...

(''A. berlepschi''), and the three have several times been suggested to be either one or two species. Several additional species have been proposed for inclusion but they have almost conclusively been shown to be hybrids with ''kingii'' or one of the other sylphs. Since at least the early 2000s taxonomists have settled on the three-species treatment.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 31 January 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved February 1, 2022Altshuler, D.L. and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Long-tailed Sylph (''Aglaiocercus kingii''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.lotsyl1.01 retrieved February 18, 2022 The long-tailed sylph has these six accepted subspecies. However, early in the 20th century, ''caudatus'' and ''mocoa'' were treated by some authors as separate species. *''A. k. margarethae''

Heine Heine is both a surname and a given name of German origin. People with that name include: People with the surname * Albert Heine (1867–1949), German actor * Alice Heine (1858–1925), American-born princess of Monaco * Armand Heine (1818–1883) ...

(1863) *''A. k. caudatus'' Berlepsch (1893) *''A. k. emmae'' Berlepsch (1893) *''A. k. kingii''

Lesson A lesson or class is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. It involves one or more students (also called pupils or learners in some circumstances) being taught by a teacher or instructor. A lesson may be either one ...

(1832) *''A. k. mocoa'' Delattre & Bourcier (1846) *''A. k. smaragdinus''

Gould Gould may refer to: People * Gould (name), a surname Places United States * Gould, Arkansas, a city * Gould, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Gould, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Gould, Oklahoma, a town * Gould, West Virginia, an ...

(1846)

Description

The male long-tailed sylphs are long including the outer tail feathers, and weigh . Females are long and weigh . All subspecies have a short black bill. Males of the nominate subspecies ''A. k. kingii'' have a shining emerald green crown, metallic bronzy green upperparts, duller green underparts with an olive cast, and a blue or violet throat. The inner tail feathers are very short and the outer ones very long. (Despite the species' English name, its tail is not noticeably longer than those of the other sylphs.) The tail's upper surface is iridescent blue, green, and violet and the underside bluish black. Nominate females' upperparts are similar to the males'. Their tail is short and somewhat forked, with dark blue outer feathers broadly tipped with white. The head is metallic green with a white malar stripe and a white to buffy throat with green speckles. The underparts are cinnamon. Males of subspecies ''A. k. margarethae'' have paler green upperparts than the nominate; females are similar to the nominate. ''A. k. caudatus'' does not have the nominate's blue throat and its females are also similar to the nominate. ''A. k. emmae'' has a somewhat longer bill than the nominate. Males are a paler and duller green and have a bright green throat; females have more green spots on a white throat. ''A. k. mocoa''s upperparts are a shinier green than the nominate and a sapphire blue to purple throat. The female is similar to the nominate. ''A. k. smaragdinus'' has a shorter tail than the nominate and a greenish blue throat. The female has bronzy green upperparts, a more bluish green crown than the nominate, and a chestnut wash on the back.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of long-tailed sylph are found thus: *''A. k. margarethae'', north central and coastal Venezuela *''A. k. caudatus'', in western Venezuela's

Serranía del Perijá The Serranía del Perijá, Cordillera de Perijá or Sierra de Perijá is a mountain range, an extension of the eastern Andean branch ( Cordillera Oriental), in northern South America, between Colombia and Venezuela, ending further north in the ...

and the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

into northern Colombia *''A. k. emmae'', the northern Central and southern Western Andes of Colombia south into northwestern Ecuador *''A. k. kingii'', the Eastern Andes of Colombia *''A. k. mocoa'', the southern Central Andes of Colombia through Ecuador into northern Peru *''A. k. smaragdinus'', the eastern Andes of Peru south into west-central Bolivia The long-tailed sylph inhabits generally open landscapes like scrublands, clearings and edges of forest, gardens,

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

, and high-elevation grassland. In elevation it ranges between . Long-tailed sylph (Aglaiocercus kingii kingii) male Cundinamarca 2.jpg, ''A. k. kingii'', Colombia Long-tailed sylph (Aglaiocercus kingii kingii) male in flight Cundinamarca.jpg, ''A. k. kingii'', Colombia Long-tailed sylph (Aglaiocercus kingii emmae) male in flight on Fuchsia triphylla Caldas.jpg, ''A. k. emmae'', Colombia

Behavior

Movement

The long-tailed sylph has a complex movement pattern. Populations in the Andes make seasonal movements between lower and higher elevations. ''A. k. caudatus'' is thought to migrate between Venezuela and Colombia. On the Pacific side of southwestern Colombia, ''A. k. emmae'' apparently is present only in the wet season and is replaced by the violet-tailed sylph between January and April.

Feeding

The long-tailed sylph's diet is nectar and insects. It feeds on nectar in several ways. It uses

trap-lining In ethology and behavioral ecology, trap-lining or traplining is a feeding strategy in which an individual visits food sources on a regular, repeatable sequence, much as Animal trapping, trappers check their lines of traps. Traplining is usually ...

around a circuit of flowering plants but also will defend specific feeding territories. It usually hovers at flowers to feed but sometimes clings to them and also "robs" nectar by piercing the base of a flower. It catches insects by hawking from a perch. At lower elevations it feeds mostly in the treetops, and lower to the ground at

elfin forest A "natural National Park in the Philippines, a UNESCO World Heritage Site file:Mount Kemiri (8187817161).jpg, An elfin forest in Sumatra's Gunung Leuser National Park Dwarf forest, elfin forest, or pygmy forest is an uncommon ecosystem feat ...

and high-elevation grassland.

Breeding

The long-tailed sylph's breeding season is known to span February to October but the species is believed to breed at any time of year. Males build the nest, a bulky dome of moss and plant fibers with a side entrance. It is attached to a branch or twig where hidden by leaves. The female incubates the two white eggs for 15 to 17 days; fledging occurs 21 to 24 days after hatch.

Vocalization

The long-tailed sylph's apparent song is "a continuous series of buzzy notes 'bzzt...bzzt...bzzt...'." Its calls include "a repeated, short, buzzy or raspy 'dzzrt'...a more drawn-out, higher-pitched 'bzzeeew' nda thin high-pitched rising twittering."

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the long-tailed sylph as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range, but its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. It is common to abundant in much of its range and occurs in several protected areas. However, habitat clearing for cattle raising in Colombia and Ecuador is a potential threat.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q432073 long-tailed sylph Birds of the Northern Andes long-tailed sylph Taxa named by René Lesson Taxonomy articles created by Polbot