The
White-throated Dipper (
Cinclus
cinclus) is an aquatic
passerine
bird found in
Europe and
the
Middle East, also known as the
European Dipper or just
Dipper.
The
species is divided into several
subspecies on colour differences, especially of
the pectoral band.
The nominate Black-bellied Dipper,
C. c. cinclus, has no
chestnut on the lower breast. It breeds in northern Europe and
wanders to milder regions in winter.
It has been recorded
from the United
Kingdom
on many occasions.
The Dipper
of Great
Britain
and Ireland
, C. c.
gularis and the central European race C. c. aquaticus
are mainly resident.
The Cyprus population became
extinct in the
early 1950s. It has been described as a distinct subspecies, the
Cyprus Dipper (
C. c.
olympicus), but its validity is doubtful.
The Dipper is a rotund, short-tailed bird, dark above and
white-breasted, closely associated with swiftly running rivers and
streams or the lakes into which these fall. The Dipper often
perches bobbing spasmodically with its short tail uplifted on the
rocks round which the water swirls and tumbles.
It acquired its name from these sudden dips, not from its diving
habit, though it dives as well as walks into the water.
It flies rapidly and straight, its short wings whirring swiftly and
without pauses or glides, calling a shrill
zil, zil, zil.
It will then either drop on the water and dive or plunge in with a
small splash.
From a perch it will walk into the water and deliberately submerge,
but there is no truth in the assertion that it can defy the laws of
specific gravity and walk along the
bottom . Undoubtedly when entering the water it grips with its
strong feet, but the method of progression beneath the surface is
by swimming, using the wings effectively for flying under water. It
holds itself down by muscular exertion, with its head well down and
its body oblique, its course beneath the surface often revealed by
a line of rising bubbles.
In this way it secures its food, usually aquatic
invertebrates including
caddis worm and other aquatic insect
larvae,
beetles,
Limnaea,
Ancylus and other freshwater
molluscs, and also small
fish. A
favourite food is the small crustacean
Gammarus, an
amphipod
shrimp. It also walks and runs on the banks and rocks seeking
terrestrial invertebrates.
The winter habits of the Dipper vary considerably and apparently
individually. When the swift hill streams are frozen it is forced
to descend to the lowlands and even visit the coasts, but some will
remain if there is any open water.
The male has a sweet
Wren-like song.
During courtship the male sings whilst he runs and postures,
exhibiting his snowy breast, and when displaying he will take long
and high flights, like those of the
Common Kingfisher, accompanied by sharp
metallic calls
clink, clink, different from the normal
zil.
The nest is by the water. It is large, globular or oval, like a
large Wren's nest, built into a crack or hollow in the rock, in the
masonry, or on the supports of a bridge, or, more rarely, in an
overhanging branch.
It is composed of moss, dead grass and leaves. This ball, however,
is just a shelter. Usually hidden beneath a lip, is the entrance to
the real nest within, a cup of grass or sedge, nearly as large as
the nest of a
Blackbird, lined with
leaves of
oak,
beech or
other trees. Three to six white eggs are laid starting between
March and May. One or two broods are reared, usually in the same
nest.
When disturbed the young, when hardly feathered, will at once drop
into the water and dive.
The head of the adult Dipper (
gularis and
aquaticus) is brown, the back slate-grey mottled with
black, looking black from a distance, and the wings and tail are
brown. The throat and upper breast are white, followed by a band of
warm chestnut which merges into black on the belly and flanks. The
bill is almost black, the legs and irides brown.
C. c.
cinclus has a black belly band.
The young are greyish brown and have no chestnut band.
Length: 18 cm (7 inches)
Trivia
The
White-throated Dipper is Norway
's national
bird.
References
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