Introduction The Flower Kissers It had been a long, hot summer, the kind you associate with the high-pitched buzz of cicadas breaking the still air. In early spring, I had scattered the seeds for nasturtiums, hollyhocks, snapdragons and poppies in my yard, hoping that at the peak of the growing season, the orange, yellow and red blooms would be a colorful lure to transient ruby-throated hummingbirds. Now, the eye-catching flowers had come into bloom, and I waited -- for weeks. I had nearly given up hope of having a hummingbird visitor in my yard when, early one morning, I heard the characteristic clicking and chirping as a tiny bird hovered at a nasturtium, flying forward and in reverse as it probed the flower for nectar. It had arrived in a flash and fed without disturbing a petal, and then it was gone. Bird watching is one of North America's favorite outdoor pastimes, yet few members of the avian family create as much excitement as does a hummingbird when it pays a visit. Beautiful and delicate, pugnacious and tame, these fairylike birds with their rainbow-colored plumage can dive into your garden with little fanfare and instantaneously cast their magical spell. Their names evoke the splendor of their breed: berylline, brilliant, coquette, emerald, empress, magenta-throated woodstar, magnificent, mountain-gem, ruby-throated, rufous and scintillant, to name just a handful. And it is no exaggeration to suggest that with their burnished plummage and aerobatics, as they row the air in tight little figure eights, the dazzling hummingbirds are nothing short of mesmerizing. Few of us will see more than the smallest fraction of the world's some 330 hummingbird species during our lives. Every encounter, however, treats us to the charm and mystery of the hummingbird world. In the following pages, we'll explore the hummer's intricate beauty and charm. The more you understand the nature of these birds -- where they live, how they feed, nest and breed -- the more rewarding you'll find the already delightful experience of meeting them face to face. Excerpted from Hummingbirds by Laurel Aziz, Adrian Forsyth All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
