View source for Dipper

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name              = Dippers
| image             = Cinclus mexicanus FWS.jpg
| image_caption     = [[American dipper]] (''Cinclus mexicanus'')
| parent_authority  = [[Carl Jakob Sundevall|Sundevall]], 1836
| taxon             = Cinclus
| authority         = [[Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen|Borkhausen]], 1797
| display_parents   = 2
| type_species      = ''[[White-throated dipper|Cinclus hydrophilus]]''<ref name=HM4>{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=184 |title= Cinclidae |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-15}}</ref>
| type_species_authority = Borkhausen, 1797
| range_map =Cinclus distr.png
| range_map_caption=Distribution map
{{Leftlegend|blue|White-throated dipper}}
{{Leftlegend|cyan|Brown dipper}}
{{Leftlegend|green|American dipper}}
{{Leftlegend|red|White-capped dipper}}
{{Leftlegend|orange|Rufous-throated dipper}}
}}
{{Cladogram
|caption=Phylogeny of the dippers<ref name=voelker/>
|align=right
|cladogram={{Clade| style=font-size:90%;line-height:100%;width:220px;
|1={{clade
   |1=[[Thrush (bird)|Turdidae]]
   |label2=Cinclidae
   |2={{clade
      |1={{clade
         |1=[[white-throated dipper]]
         |2=[[brown dipper]]
         }}
      |2={{clade
         |1=[[American dipper]]
         |2={{clade
            |1=[[white-capped dipper]]
            |2=[[rufous-throated dipper]]
            }}
         }}
      }}
   }}
}}
}}

'''Dippers''' are members of the genus '''''Cinclus''''' in the [[bird]] family '''Cinclidae''', so-called because of their bobbing or dipping movements.  They are unique among [[passerine]]s for their ability to dive and swim underwater.

==Taxonomy==
The genus ''Cinclus'' was introduced by the German naturalist [[Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen]] in 1797 with the [[white-throated dipper]] (''Cinclus cinclus'') as the [[type species]].<ref>{{ cite book | last=Borkhausen | first=Moritz Balthasar  | author-link=Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen | year=1797 | title=Deutsche Fauna, oder, Kurzgefasste Naturgeschichte der Thiere Deutschlands. Erster Theil, Saugthiere und Vögel | language=de | location=Frankfurt am Main | publisher=Varrentrapp und Wenner | page=300 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/38962808 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1960 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=9 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology  | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | page=374 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14481049 }}</ref> The name ''cinclus'' is from the [[Ancient Greek]] word ''kinklos'' that was used to describe small tail-wagging birds that resided near water.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010 | title=Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | location=London | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | isbn= 978-1-4081-2501-4| page=107}}</ref>

''Cinclus'' is the only genus in the [[family (biology)|family]] Cinclidae. The white-throated dipper and American dipper are also known in Britain and America, respectively, as the ''water ouzel'' (sometimes spelt "ousel") – ouzel originally meant the only distantly related but superficially similar [[common blackbird|Eurasian blackbird]] ([[Old English language|Old English]] ''osle'').  Ouzel also survives as the name of a relative of the blackbird, the [[ring ouzel]].<ref>{{cite OED|ouzel}}</ref>

The genus contains five species:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web | editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2019 | title=Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds | work=World Bird List Version 9.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/dippers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=9 February 2019 }}</ref>
*[[White-throated dipper]] or European dipper, ''Cinclus cinclus''
*[[Brown dipper]] ''Cinclus pallasii''
*[[American dipper]] ''Cinclus mexicanus''
*[[White-capped dipper]] ''Cinclus leucocephalus''
*[[Rufous-throated dipper]] ''Cinclus schulzii''

A 2002 [[molecular phylogenetic]] study of the dippers looked at the DNA sequences of two [[mitochondrial]] genes. It found that the Eurasian white-throated dipper and brown dipper are [[sister taxon|sister species]] as are the South American  white-capped dipper and rufous-throated dipper. The study also showed that the dipper family, Cinclidae, is most closely related to the [[thrush (bird)|thrush family]], Turdidae.<ref name=voelker>{{ cite journal | last=Voelker | first=Gary | year=2002 | title=Molecular phylogenetics and the historical biogeography of dippers (''Cinclus'') | journal=Ibis | volume=144 | issue=4 | pages=577–584 | doi=10.1046/j.1474-919X.2002.00084.x }}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Eurasian White-fronted Dipper, C cinclus.JPG|thumb|left|[[White-throated dipper]] (''C. cinclus'')]]
Dippers are small, chunky, stout, short-tailed, short-winged, strong-legged birds. The different species are generally dark brown (sometimes nearly black), or brown and white in colour, apart from the [[rufous-throated dipper]], which is brown with a reddish-brown throat patch.  Sizes range from {{cvt|14|–|22|cm}} in length and {{cvt|40|–|90|g}} in weight, with males larger than females.  Their short wings give them a distinctive whirring flight.<ref name=Whistler1928>{{ cite book | last=Whistler | first=Hugh | year=2007 | title=Popular Handbook of Indian Birds | location=London | publisher=British Museum Natural History | edition=4th | isbn=978-1-4067-4576-4}}</ref><ref name=Tyler1994/><ref name=Robbins1966>Robbins, C.S.; Bruun, B.; & Zim, H.S. (1966). ''Birds of North America''. Western Publishing Company: New York.</ref>  They have a characteristic bobbing motion when perched beside the water, giving them their name. While under water, they are covered by a thin, silvery film of air, due to small bubbles being trapped on the surface of the plumage.<ref name=Tyler1994/>

==Distribution and habitat==
Dippers are found in suitable freshwater [[habitat]]s in the highlands of the Americas, Europe and Asia.  In Africa they are only found in the [[Atlas Mountains]] of [[Morocco]].  They inhabit the banks of fast-moving upland rivers with cold, clear waters, though, outside the breeding season, they may visit lake shores and sea coasts.<ref name=Tyler1994/>

==Adaptations==
Unlike many water birds, dippers are generally similar in form to many terrestrial birds (for example, they do not have [[Bird feet and legs#Webbing and lobation|webbed feet]]), but they do have some morphological and physiological adaptations to their aquatic habits. They have evolved solid bones to reduce their buoyancy,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/07/country-diary-dipper-aquatic-to-its-bones-garsdale-cumbria |title=Country diary: it looks like a songbird, but the dipper is aquatic to its bones |work=www.theguardian.com |date=7 April 2018 |access-date=22 October 2023}}</ref> and their wings are relatively short but strongly muscled, enabling them to be used as flippers underwater. The [[plumage]] is dense, with a large [[preen gland]] for waterproofing their feathers. Relatively long legs and sharp claws enable them to hold on to rocks in swift water. Their eyes have well-developed focus muscles that can change the curvature of the lens to enhance underwater vision.<ref name=Goodge1960>{{cite journal | last = Goodge | first = W.R. | year = 1960 | title = Adaptations for amphibious vision in the Dipper (''Cinclus mexicanus'') | journal = Journal of Morphology | volume = 107 | pages = 79–91 | doi=10.1002/jmor.1051070106 | pmid = 13707012 | s2cid = 7227306 }}</ref>  They have nasal flaps to prevent water entering their nostrils.<ref name=hbw>{{cite journal | last1=Ormerod | first1=S. | last2=Tyler | first2=S. | year=2020 | title=Dippers (Cinclidae) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | journal=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | doi=10.2173/bow.cincli1.01 | s2cid=242827109 | url=https://www.hbw.com/node/52314 | access-date=11 February 2019 |url-access=subscription  }} The text is identical to Volume 10 of the print edition published in 2005.</ref>

The high [[haemoglobin]] concentration in their [[blood]] gives them a capacity to store [[oxygen]] greater than that of other birds, allowing them to remain underwater for 30 seconds or more,<ref name=Tyler1994>{{ cite book | last1=Tyler | first1=Stephanie J. | last2=Ormerod | first2=Stephen J.  | year=1994 | title=The Dippers | location=London | publisher=Poyser | isbn=0-85661-093-3}}</ref> whilst their [[basal metabolic rate]] is approximately one-third slower than typical terrestrial passerines of similar mass.<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Murrish | first=David E.| year=1970 | title=Responses to temperature in the dipper, ''Cinclus mexicanus'' | journal= Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology| volume=34 | issue=4 | pages=859–869 | doi=10.1016/0010-406X(70)91009-1 }}</ref> One small population wintering at a hot spring in [[Suntar-Khayata Range|Suntar-Khayata Mountains]] of [[Siberia]] feeds underwater when air temperatures drop below {{convert|-55|C}}.<ref name="sh/">{{ cite journal | last1=Dinets | first1=V. | last2=Sanchez | first2=M. | year=2017 | title=Brown Dippers (''Cinclus pallasi'') overwintering at −65°C in Northeastern Siberia | journal=Wilson Journal of Ornithology | volume=129 | issue=2 | pages=397–400 | doi=10.1676/16-071.1 | s2cid=91058122 }}</ref>

==Behaviour==

===Food===
Dippers [[forage]] for small animal prey in and along the margins of fast-flowing freshwater streams and rivers.  They perch on rocks and feed at the edge of the water, but they often also grip the rocks firmly and walk down them beneath the water until partly or wholly submerged.  They then search underwater for prey between and beneath stones and debris; they can also swim with their wings.  The two South American species swim and dive less often than the three northern ones.<ref name=Tyler1994b>{{cite journal | last = Tyler | first = S.J. | title = The Yungas of Argentina: in search of Rufous-throated Dippers ''Cinclus schulzi'' | journal = Cotinga | volume = 2 | pages = 38–41 | year = 1994 | url=http://www.neotropicalbirdclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Cotinga-02-1994-38-41.pdf }}</ref>  Their prey consists primarily of [[invertebrate]]s such as the [[nymph (biology)|nymph]]s or [[larva]]e of [[mayfly|mayflies]], [[Black fly|blackflies]], [[Plecoptera|stoneflies]] and [[Trichoptera|caddisflies]], as well as small fish and fish eggs.  [[Mollusc]]s and [[crustacean]]s are also consumed, especially in winter when insect larvae are less available.<ref name=Tyler1994/>

===Breeding===
Linear breeding territories are established by pairs of dippers along suitable rivers, and maintained against incursion by other dippers.  Within their territory the pair must have a good nest site and roost sites, but the main factor affecting the length of the territory is the availability of sufficient food to feed themselves and their broods.  Consequently, the length of a territory may vary from about {{convert|300|m|ft|-2|abbr=off}} to over {{convert|2500|m|ft|-2|abbr=off}}.<ref name=Tyler1994/>

Dipper nests are usually large, round, domed structures made of [[moss]], with an internal cup of grass and rootlets, and a side entrance hole.  They are often built in confined spaces over, or close to, running water.  The site may be on a ledge or bank, in a crevice or drainpipe, or beneath a bridge.  Tree sites are rare.<ref name=Tyler1994/>

The usual clutch-size of the three northern dipper species is four or five; those of the South American species is not well known, though some evidence suggests that of the rufous-throated dipper is two.<ref name=Salvador1986>{{cite journal | last = Salvador | first = S. |author2=Narosky, S. |author3=Fraga, R. | title = First description of the nest and eggs of the red-throated dipper in northwestern Argentina | journal = Gerfaut | volume = 76 | pages = 63–66 | year = 1986 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/294873606 }}</ref>  The incubation period of 16 or 17 days is followed by the hatching of [[altricial]] young which are brooded by the female alone for the next 12 to 13 days. The nestlings are fed by both parents and the whole fledging period is about 20–24 days.  Young dippers usually become independent of their parents within a couple of weeks of leaving the nest. Dippers may raise second broods if conditions allow.<ref name=Tyler1994/> The maximum recorded age from [[Bird ringing|ring-recovery]] data of a white-throated dipper is 10 years and 7 months for a bird ringed in Finland.<ref>{{cite web| title=European Longevity Records   |url=https://euring.org/data-and-codes/longevity-list?page=4 |publisher=Euring | access-date=13 February 2019 }}</ref> The maximum age for an American dipper is 8 years and 1 month for a bird ringed and recovered in South Dakota.<ref>{{ cite web | title=Longevity Records of North American Birds | publisher=United States Geological Survey | url=https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/longevity/Longevity_main.cfm | access-date=13 February 2019 }}</ref>

===Communication===
Dippers' calls are loud and high-pitched, being similar to calls made by other birds on fast rivers; the [[sound frequency|call frequencies]] lying within a narrow range of 4.0–6.5&nbsp;[[kHz]], well above the torrent noise frequency of maximum 2&nbsp;kHz.<ref name=Martens1990>{{cite conference | first = Martens | last = J. |author2=Geduldig, G. | title = Acoustic adaptations of birds living close to Himalayan torrents | book-title = Proc. Int. 100 DO-G Meeting | pages = 123–131 | publisher = Current Topics Avian Biol. | year = 1990 | location = Bonn }}</ref>  Dippers also communicate visually by their characteristic dipping or bobbing movements, as well as by blinking rapidly to expose the white feathers on their upper eyelids as a series of white flashes in courtship and threat displays.<ref name=Goodge1960/>

==Conservation==
[[File:Cinclus schulzii Tucuman 1.jpg|thumb|The rufous-throated dipper is considered Vulnerable by the IUCN]]
Dippers are completely dependent on fast-flowing rivers with clear water, accessible food and secure nest-sites.  They may be threatened by anything that affects these needs such as [[water pollution]], [[Ocean acidification|acidification]] and [[turbidity]] caused by [[erosion]].  River regulation through the creation of [[dam]]s and [[reservoir]]s, as well as [[river engineering|channelization]], can degrade and destroy dipper habitat.<ref name=Tyler1994/>

Dippers are also sometimes [[hunting|hunted]] or otherwise persecuted by humans for various reasons.  The [[Cyprus]] race of the white-throated dipper is extinct.  In the Atlas Mountains dippers are claimed to have [[aphrodisiac]]al properties.  In parts of [[Scotland]] and [[Germany]], until the beginning of the 20th century, [[bounty (reward)|bounties]] were paid for killing dippers because of a misguided perception that they were detrimental to fish stocks through predation on the eggs and fry of [[salmonid]]s.<ref name=Tyler1994/>

Despite threats to local populations, the conservation status of most dipper species is considered to be of [[least concern]].  The one exception, the rufous-throated dipper, is classified as [[Vulnerable species|vulnerable]] because of its small, fragmented and declining population which is threatened, especially in Argentina, by changes in river management.<ref name=iucn>{{cite web | author=BirdLife International | title=Rufous-throated Dipper ''Cinclus schulzii'' | work=[[IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] | publisher=[[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] | year=2017 | url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22708169/111053629 | access-date=13 February 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* [[Stephanie Tyler|Tyler, Stephanie J.]] & [[Steve Ormerod|Ormerod, Stephen J.]] (1994) ''The Dippers'' (Poyser, London) {{ISBN|0-85661-093-3}}

==External links==
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120304122318/http://www.janneheimonen.net/Gallery/Birds/Dipper-Cinclus-cinclus/ Dipper pictures]}} in nature photographer Janne Heimonen's photo gallery
*[http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/dippers-cinclidae Dipper videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

{{Passerida|M.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q192575}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cinclidae|*]]
[[Category:Cinclus|*]]
[[Category:Bird genera]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen]]