Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
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The American Dipper feeds on freshwater invertebrates, especially insect larvae, and very small fish. They have also been known to feed on small aquatic plants.
Cinclus mexicanus, the American Dipper, can be found in the mountains of western North America from lower California to northern Alaska. It is also found in Mexico south to Panama. The American Dipper never leaves the company of water. During winter, they sometimes become more common in the lower reaches of the streams on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada (California). In California, Dippers range in elevation from sea level along the central and northern coast, to over 9,000 feet in the central Sierra Nevada, and upwards to 10,000 feet in the White Mountains. Wanderers occasionally exceed 12,000 feet in the central Sierra Nevada. (Schoenherr 1995, Small 1994)
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
American Dippers prefer swift, clear, cold, permanent streams, especially those with large boulders, tumbling waterfalls, steep cliffs and ledges which can be used as sheltered nest sites. These sites are often located under the waterfalls. Man-made culverts, bridges, and small dams may also be utilized as nest sites. Where such streams flow into clear lakes and ponds, Dippers are often found foraging along the edges of the latter as well. Primary life zones for breeding are Canadian (and occasionally in the upper Sonoran), often extending upwards into the Hudsonian or even higher. The elevation range is from sea level along the central and northern coast, to over 9,000 feet in the central Sierra Nevada, and upwards to 10,000 feet in the White Mountains of California. Wanderers occasionally exceed 12,000 feet in the central Sierra Nevada of California.
(Small 1994)
Terrestrial Biomes: mountains
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 86 months.
Adult American Dippers grow to roughly 18 cm (7 in.) in length from beak to tail. In the spring, adults are slaty or deep neutral grey on their body, brown on their head and neck, and a darker gray to almost black on their wings and tail. The upper eyelids are touched with a narrow border of white feathers, and their bill is black. Their feet are yellow in color.
During the fall and winter, the colors of adults and immature males and females change. The feathers of underparts become margined with white, and they also have white edging on the wings. The bill turns to a light brown. Young American Dippers are a much lighter color on their stomach compared to the adults. The throat is nearly white, the wing feathers and occasionally tail feathers extensivily are white. Their bill is yellow.
This dipper has large oil glands to help waterproof feathers, and nasal flaps that allow it to close the nostrils under water (Welty 1982)
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Average mass: 50.2 g.
The mating ritual consists of the male stretching his neck upward, bill vertical, wings down, partially spread. The male then struts and sings before the female. If the song is right, the male and female will perform together ending the song with their breasts touching.
The American Dipper produces about four to five eggs that are 26 mm x 19 mm in size. The incubation period lasts about 16 days. After birth, the young dipper will remain about 24-25 days under the parents care.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous
The American dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), also known as a water ouzel, is a semiaquatic bird species native to western North America.
It is a stocky dark grey bird with a head sometimes tinged with brown, and white feathers on the eyelids that cause the eyes to flash white as the bird blinks. It is 16.5 cm (6.5 in) long, has a wingspan of 23 cm (9.1 in),[2] and weighs on average 46 g (1.6 oz). The name "dipper" derives from its long legs, which it uses to bob its whole body up and down during pauses as it feeds on the bottom of fast-moving, rocky streams.
The American dipper was described by the English zoologist William John Swainson in 1827 and given the binomial name Cinclus mexicanus.[3] The type locality is Temascaltepec de González in Mexico.[4]
There are five subspecies:[5]
This species, like other dippers, is equipped with an extra eyelid called a nictitating membrane that allows it to see underwater, and scales that close its nostrils when submerged. Dippers also produce more oil than most birds, which may help keep them warmer when seeking food underwater.
The song consists of high whistles or trills peee peee pijur pijur repeated a few times. Both sexes of this bird sing year round.
The American dipper inhabits the mountainous regions of Central America and western North America from Panama to Alaska. It is usually a permanent resident, moving slightly south or to lower elevations if necessary to find food or unfrozen water. The presence of this indicator species shows good water quality; it has vanished from some locations due to pollution or increased silt load in streams.
The American dipper defends a linear territory along streams. In most of its habits, it closely resembles its European counterpart, the white-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus), which is also sometimes known as a water ouzel.
The American dipper's nest is a globe-shaped structure with a side entrance, close to water, on a rock ledge, river bank, behind a waterfall or under a bridge. The normal clutch is 2–4 white eggs, incubated solely by the female, which hatch after about 15–17 days, with another 20–25 days to fledging. The male helps to feed the young. The maximum recorded age from ring-recovery data of an American dipper is 8 years and 1 month for a bird ringed and recovered in South Dakota.[6]
It feeds on aquatic insects and their larvae, including dragonfly nymphs, small crayfish, and caddisfly larvae. It may also take tiny fish or tadpoles.
Dippers may occasionally be preyed on by predatory fish such as by brook trout, bull or Dolly Varden trout.[7][8]
The American dipper, previously known as the water-ouzel, was the favorite bird of famous naturalist John Muir. He dedicated an entire chapter in his book The Mountains of California to the ouzel stating "He is the mountain streams' own darling, the humming-bird of blooming waters, loving rocky ripple-slopes and sheets of foam as a bee loves flowers, as a lark loves sunshine and meadows. Among all the mountain birds, none has cheered me so much in my lonely wanderings, —none so unfailingly. For both in winter and summer he sings, sweetly, cheerily, independent alike of sunshine and of love, requiring no other inspiration than the stream on which he dwells. While water sings, so must he, in heat or cold, calm or storm, ever attuning his voice in sure accord; low in the drought of summer and the drought of winter, but never silent."[9]
Subspecies C. m. ardesiacus, lithograph by Joseph Wolf, 1867
Foraging in a stream
The American dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), also known as a water ouzel, is a semiaquatic bird species native to western North America.