Long-tailed Hermit vs Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Phaethornis superciliosus compared with Archilochus colubris
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Long-tailed Hermit | Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Phaethornis superciliosus | Archilochus colubris |
| Order | Caprimulgiformes | Caprimulgiformes |
| Family | Trochilidae | Trochilidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | 8.5 cm (3.3 in) |
| Wingspan | 11.7 cm (4.6 in) | 11.0 cm (4.3 in) |
| Weight | 5.15 g (0.18 oz) | 3.1 g (0.11 oz) |
| Diet | Nectarivore of dense undergrowth flowers. Regularly hawks small flying insects and gleans spiders to meet … | Nectar from tubular flowers, supplemented with small insects and spiders for protein. Feeds at over … |
| Clutch Size | 2 | 2 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Deciduous and mixed forests, woodland edges, gardens, and parks with flowering plants. Migrates across the Gulf of Mexico.
Song & Call Comparison
Long-tailed Hermit
Thin, sibilant hissing trill; continuous soft buzz with slight pulsing quality, issued during slow hovering near blossoms.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Soft, high-pitched chattering and twittering 'chee-dit'. Also produces a thin 'tik' call in flight. Wing beats create an audible high-pitched humming buzz during hovering.
Geographic Range & Migration
Long-tailed Hermit
Found in lowland humid forest from Colombia and Venezuela east through the Guianas and south through Amazonian Brazil. 0–700 m.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Eastern North America from southern Canada to the Gulf Coast. Winters in Central America and southern Mexico.
Conservation Status
Long-tailed Hermit
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
How to Tell Them Apart
Long-tailed Hermit
Black-crested Coquette: males with elongated black-tipped rufous crest; iridescent green gorget; white collar; females with rufous crown
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Metallic green upperparts and greyish-white underparts. Males have a brilliant iridescent ruby-red gorget that appears black in poor light. Females lack the gorget.
Long, straight, thin black bill adapted for probing flowers
About These Birds
Long-tailed Hermit
A large hermit hummingbird (15-17 cm) found in humid lowland forests from Venezuela through the Guianas to northern Brazil. Green plumage with long, curved bill and very long, white-tipped central tail feathers. Nectarivore of forest undergrowth. Males gather in singing leks.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
The ruby-throated hummingbird is the only breeding hummingbird in eastern North America. These tiny birds beat their wings about 53 times per second and can fly backwards, sideways, and even briefly upside down. They make an extraordinary non-stop 800 km crossing of the Gulf of Mexico during migration.