Hummingbirds have got their name from the distinct “hum” sound made by their rapidly flapping (拍打) wings. The size of the bird decides the number of flaps it can do. The average lifetime of a hummingbird is 3 or 4 years, but some of them have lived beyond 12 years also. They are unique in many ways. Besides the number of rapid flaps they can do per second, they can also fly backwards.
Hummingbirds have an amazing sense of assessing the amount of sugar in the nectar (花蜜) they eat. They feed on the nectar of flowers. Hummingbirds do not feed on flowers whose nectar contains less than 10% sugar. Talk about a sweet tooth! As they cannot sustain themselves on nectar alone because of its poor nutritional value, they also feed on insects and spiders, and hummingbird food mixture that one can make at home.
Attracting hummingbirds to your garden will require a little planning. Plant butterfly bush, mimosa, coral bells, foxglove, morning glory, etc. These flowers attract the hummingbirds due to their high visibility (可见性) and nectar production. Avoid using pesticides (杀虫剂), as it will not only kill the insects around the flowers, but hurt the hummingbirds as well.
A common food for these birds is the sweettasting sugar syrup (糖浆). Hummingbird food ingredients are just two: sugar and water. Take a large clean bowl, pour in it four cups of hot water, and dissolve one cup of table sugar in it. Stir slowly until all sugar has dissolved.
Hummingbirds, tiny as they are, collect a lot of nutrition. Providing them with hummingbird food mixture made of sugar water is a sure way to get all these beauties humming in your garden.
Hummingbirds will have some little animals for their meal when .
A. they can't find any green plants
B. they can't take in enough nutrition
C. they are bored with eating nectar
D. they are too old to fly
In order to attract hummingbirds, you should .
A. plan high trees
B. grow plants with small flowers
C. grow plants whose flowers are bright in color
D. grow plants coming into flower in the morning
The main idea of the fourth paragraph is .
A. how to prepare food for hummingbirds
B. where hummingbirds can find delicious food
C. hummingbirds can't live for long without sugar
D. hummingbirds like manmade food better than nectar