THE DIPPERS
(Cinclus Mexicanus & Cinclus cinclus)

© S. Linander © B. Bergstrom
Eurasian Dipper (Cinclus cinclus)
Farum, Denmark 		American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus)
Rocky mountains, Colorado

GENERAL - THE AMERICAN DIPPER (Cinclus mexicanus)

      In March (1999) I became curious about Dippers when Stig Linander wrote, from Denmark, that a couple of them had been "wintering" in a nearby stream along with a Kingfisher. I had not heard of Dippers before and proceeded to do some reading. They are remarkable small birds!

      There are five species of Dippers around the world. Most of the information I have found is on the American Dipper and the Eurasian Dipper, however I expect that all the races have the same general behavioural characteristics. The American Dipper is of a slate gray colour all over whereas the Eurasian dipper is brown with a very impressive white "bib". The Eurasian dipper is the national bird of Norway.

      Dippers are small birds about the size of a Starling but with a tail resembling that of a Wren. They are "high country" inhabitants and are often found near rapidly flowing streams. Although their feet are not webbed, they are quite capable of swimming underwater using their wings. They are equipped with abundant oil glands to keep their feathers waterproof. Their eyes have protective nictitaing membranes and they have flaps that seal over their nostrils while underwater.

      Dippers seem to tolerate cold weather very well. American Dippers do not migrate, but as the weather gets colder and streams begin to ice over they simply move down to lower altitudes in search of open water. In contrast, Dippers in Scandinavia (Cinclus cinclus) do migrate.

      Because the American Dipper does not "migrate" there is at least one population, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, that is isolated with no "source stream" connection to the western "outside". This group is suffering greatly not only from lack of "new birds from outside" but from habitat degradation as well. Doug Backlund has described their plight in the reference link "A bird in trouble!" below.

      Interestingly, the map for the dipper in Peterson's Field Guide to Western Birds" locates this isolated population.

 

THE EURASIAN DIPPER (Cinclus cinclus)

      The "Eurasian" Dipper really consists of 4 "races" across Europe and it's worthwhile listing them here:

  • Cinclus cinclus (C. c. for short): the basic race in the Finnish-Scandinavia mountains. This is the only race of Dippers that migrates.

  • C. c. "aquaticus": The subspecies in the Central and Southern European mountains.

  • C. c. "gularis": The subspecies in the British Isles and Ireland.

  • C. c. "hibernicus": The subspecies also in the British Isles and Ireland.

          The Dipper is studied quite thoroughly in Scandinavia - It's the national bird of Norway. Its general day-to-day behaviour is very similar to that of the American Dipper.

     

    Migrating Eurasian Dippers

    © J. Vuorinen
     
          The Eurasian Dipper of Scandinavia is a very unique Dipper in that it does migrate. The map to the left shows the Fall migration routes over Scandinavia and Finland (For spring just reverse the arrows).

          Some of its "wintering" areas have surprisingly extreme environmental conditions. In Finland, for example, the Dipper is known to winter some 200-300 km north of the Arctic circle, where the daylight is only about 1-2 hours. In the north-eastern part of Finland there are wintering Dippers, which when it is extremely cold (-40 degrees Celsius or colder) only have open water in a hole in the ice, which is sometimes barely as big as the bird!


          These Dippers have to make the most of their situation. In the Spring some of them will not only breed in their wintering area but will then travel north to breed again in their regular summer breeding area. (and in some cases in "the lands of the midnight sun")!

          Migration distances as great as 1267 km have been recorded (from Sweden to the Czech republic). A notable contributor to the migration knowledge has been the yearly "Mountain Tours", described in the reference links.

          A "fact sheet" on the Scandinavian Dipper that includes a discussion (in Swedish) of the migration is also provided in the reference links.

     

    Bookmark here

    REFERENCE LINKS:

    General - American Dipper

    John Muir's Favourite Bird   Famed naturalist John Muir (1838-1914) explored Yosemite national Park for over 50 years and was enchanted by the American Dipper which he called the "Water Ouzel" (ooz'l). This short article summarizes some of Muir's observations about this bird. He wrote a book "the mountains of California" and chapter 13 is devoted to the "Water Ouzel". Chapter 13 is provided in one of the subsequent links.

    Alaska   The American Dipper's range approximates that of Clark's Nutcracker but it also extends up into Alaska.

    Fact sheet   Forest and Rangeland Birds of the United States Natural History and Habitat. Provided by the USGS  

    Photos   Two commercial photographs of the Dipper "on station" and "at work".

    LaTourrette   Two photos of the American Dipper by Peter LaTourrette, a contributor of other photos to this website (see Kingfisher).

    A bird in trouble!   The American Dipper in the Black Hills of South Dakota. A very comprehensive paper on this isolated population of Dippers by Doug Backlund, South Dakota Dept. of Game Fish and Parks. It describes the struggle of this unique population to survive in a greatly deterioted environment. The prognosis is not optimistic! The only ray of hope may be "Spearfish creek". Don't fail to visit the first link in this paper, describing "The Bird That Flies Through Water".

    A link to Doug Backlund's website is provided below in the "contributors" section. Check out his photographs of fledgling Dippers "Fresh out of the nest", July, 2002

    mapsdak   A map of South Dakota

          Another Dipper in obvious trouble is theRufous-throated Dipper of Argentina and Bolivia. Doug Backlund visited these countries, and his brief report, along with a couple of photographs follows in the "Still More Dippers" section.

     

     

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    The Eurasian Dippers

    Dipper in hand
    © J. Vuorinen
    A Dipper captured for banding is not a happy camper!

     

    Mountain tours   This website documents expeditions in the Swedish and Norwegian mountains. It provides an insight into the rugged habitat of these birds. 2001 marks the sixteenth annual expedition to ring (band) and evaluate the Dippers' environmental status. The team, led by Juhani Vuorinen, maintained on-line daily reporting during the expeditions and, over the years, the team has ringed more than 13,000 dippers! The 2001 expedition also included a film production for the Swedish TV.

         The year 2001 tour was started on June 10, and ran until July 8.

         The link provides an excellent insight into the type of environment that this bird survives (and thrives!) in. English interpretations are provided along with many spectacular photographs, for example, from the 1999 expedition:

    Dipper swimming
    © J. Vuorinen
    "You don't need to teach a Dipper to swim".


     

    Sweden   Photograph of Dipper working in winter - Sweden. The Swedish name is "Strömstare"which, when translated, means "Stream Starling". Photograph by Ravi Kappel  

    Fact sheet   A brochure on the Eurasian Dipper of Scandinavia and its migration, by Juhani Vuorinen (in Swedish).

     

    Bookmark here

    Still more Dippers

    Japan1  and  Japan2   The Brown dipper (Cinclus pallasii) of Japan (Japanese name: KAWAGARASU). The photographs, by Shrimpei Watanabe , give a good idea of the type of water this bird works, A drawing of the bird can be found here .

          There are two more Dippers: The Rufous-throated Dipper (Cinclus schulzi) and the White-capped Dipper (Cinclus leucocephalus) found in Costa Rica and on rivers in north-west Argentina and southern Bolivia.

          Here are two photographs of Rufous-throated Dippers, taken by Doug Backlund of South Dakota. The photographs are actually frames from a video.

    © G. Backlund

         As mentioned earlier, these birds are really in trouble. Here are Doug Backlund's comments:

          "I was fortunate to see several on my trip to Argentina last year and in 1999. I fear that this species is in trouble also, the river (Rio los Sosas) that I found this bird on was very polluted. I could only find this bird on the last trip, on a tributary, east of Tafi del Valle. In 1999 I saw 5, only one in 2001. It is very range restricted and endemic to NW Argentina and SW Bolivia. "

     

    Bookmark here
    Some heavier reading (but well worth the time!)

    Chapter 13   Chapter 13 of John Muir's book is devoted to the Dipper.

    Chapter 7   Chapter 7 of John Muir's book mentions Clark's Nutcracker as well as the "Water Ouzel".

    Muir   The complete book by John Muir: "The Mountains of California"

     

     

    Bookmark here
    Contributors

    Stig Linander   Stig Linander's website at Farum, Denmark. The locale of his photograph of the Eurasian Dipper ("Vandstær", which means "Water Starling" in Danish) that introduced this page is found in the Farum Sø   nearby to his home. With careful "mouse work" on the map of Denmark in his "Birding spots"   page, you should be able to find his backyard!

     

    Bergstrom   Dr. Brad Bergstrom's Home Page at Valdosta State University, Georgia. His photograph of the American Dipper that introduced this page is found in the   Rocky Mtns. & The Great Basin   section. The images take a while to load but are well worth the wait. The same section has photographs of a Clark's Nutcracker, a white-breasted Nuthatch, and a Hummingbird on her nest as well as a photograph of the Hummer's eggs. Note that the eggs of this small bird are less than a half-inch long!
          Dr. Bergstrom took the Hummer photographs one summer while living in an historical cabin in Rocky Mountain National Park (the cabin of the younger brother of Enos Mills, who championed the founding of the park at the turn of the century. The full story is at Rocky Mountain National Park  and Enos Mills  Cabin, Museum & Gallery.

     

    Doug Backlund   is a Wildlife Biologist, with the South dakota Natural Heritage Program. The author and co-author of a multitude of papers on wildlife and conservation. In addition to being very informative, his website provides a very impressive gallery of photographs including photographs of fledgling Dippers "Fresh out of the nest", July, 2002 at: Go there   Dipper photos

     

    Juhani Vuorinen   Last but not least, the home page of Juhani Vuorinen, ornithologist, editor, teacher and leader on the "Mountain Tours". Juhani is an editorial member of the Nordic publication   "Cinclus Scandinavicus" ,  a publication devoted to the Dipper, and has been actively involved in ornithology since 1960.
          Special thanks to Juhani for providing the additional photographs and map for this page as well as the very enlightening insight into the migrating Eurasian Dippers of Scandinavia.

     

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