How big is a Venezuelan Sylph?

The Venezuelan Sylph is a tiny sized bird weighing about 5 g.

Where can you see a Venezuelan Sylph?

The Venezuelan Sylph is endemic to Venezuela, which is the only country where it occurs.

What birds look similar to a Venezuelan Sylph?

The Venezuelan Sylph is most easily confused with the Violet-tailed Sylph and the Long-tailed Sylph.

Is the Venezuelan Sylph endangered?

The Venezuelan Sylph is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Venezuelan Sylph

Aglaiocercus berlepschi

Hummingbirds · Apodiformes · Legendary

The Venezuelan Sylph (Aglaiocercus berlepschi) is a legendary hummingbird found only in Venezuela, weighing about 5 g. The Venezuelan sylph is a Vulnerable species of hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae.

VulnerableLegendaryEndemicEats nectarforestdome nest5 g

About the Venezuelan Sylph

The Venezuelan sylph is a Vulnerable species of hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is restricted to two small mountain ranges in northeastern Venezuela.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

How to identify it

The male Venezuelan sylph is 22 cm (8.7 in) long including the 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) outer tail feathers and weighs 5.5 g (0.19 oz). Females are 9.5 to 11 cm (3.7 to 4.3 in) long and weigh 4.5 g (0.16 oz). Both sexes have a short black bill. Males have a dark glittering green crown and a shining green back. They have a glittering blue gorget and bronzy green underparts with puffy white thighs. The inner tail feathers are short and blue-green; the outer ones are very long and deep violet at the base becoming blue at the end. Voice: The Venezuelan sylph's apparent song is "a continuous series of buzzy notes 'bzzt...bzzt...bzzt...'." It also makes "a high-pitched rising twittering 'tititi-teetsee..see..seee'."

Where it lives

Venezuela

When to see it

Best months: January, February, March, April, May, July, October, November, with peak activity in May. It is a variable species across most of its range.

Easily confused with

Quick questions

How do you identify a Venezuelan Sylph?: The male Venezuelan sylph is 22 cm (8.7 in) long including the 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) outer tail feathers and weighs 5.5 g (0.19 oz). Full identification notes are on this page.
How big is a Venezuelan Sylph?: The Venezuelan Sylph is a tiny sized bird weighing about 5 g.
Where can you see a Venezuelan Sylph?: The Venezuelan Sylph is endemic to Venezuela, which is the only country where it occurs.
What birds look similar to a Venezuelan Sylph?: The Venezuelan Sylph is most easily confused with the Violet-tailed Sylph and the Long-tailed Sylph.
Is the Venezuelan Sylph endangered?: The Venezuelan Sylph is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Learn the Venezuelan Sylph for real

BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.

Play BeakBrain

Every photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.