flamingo
火烈鸟
Apart from dazzling us with the vivid displays of color, flamingos have another wondrous nugget up their sleeve: their strange eating habits.
除了让我们眼花缭乱的艳丽色彩之外，火烈鸟还有一个令人称奇的特点：奇特的饮食习惯。
Unlike most animals on earth, flamingos dine with their heads upside down.
与地球上的大多数动物不同，火烈鸟吃东西时是头朝下的。
If we humans ever attempted to eat that way, I'm afraid we would have a hard time swallowing anything down.
如果我们人类尝试那样吃东西的话，恐怕我们什么东西都难以咽下。
However, for flamingos, the inverted（倒置） position of their heads is quite effective.
然而对火烈鸟来说，这种头部倒置的姿势是相当有效的。
Each time a flamingo dips its beak into the water, it takes a mouthful of both food and water.
每次火烈鸟将喙浸入水中，它都会啄入一口的食物和水，
Holding its head upside down allows it to retain the actual food and filter out the water with the help of gravity.
保持头朝下的姿势使它能够在重力的作用下留下食物而过滤掉水。
They also tend to stand on only one leg when they eat. One theory is that it helps them to preserve their body heat.
它们进食的时候也往往单腿站立。有一种理论认为，这样能帮助它们保持体温。
Whatever the exact reason, the scene of a full-blown（成熟） flamingo dining while balanced on one stick-thin leg is already a marvel to behold.
不管确切的原因是什么，一只成熟火烈鸟以一根细腿保持平衡的进食场景已经足够令人惊叹不已。
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