Home > White-throated Dipper

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 Dipper or Water Ousel 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 the larva of aquatic insects, including caddis worm s, beetleAdephaga Archostemata Myxophaga Polyphaga many subgroups see Subgroups of the order Coleoptera For alternate meanings see: Beetle (disambiguation Beetles (order Coleoptera are one of the main groups of insects. The order has more species in it than any ots, Limnea, Ancylus and other freshwater molluskCaudofoveata Aplacophora Polyplacophora Chitons Monoplacophora Bivalvia Bivalves Scaphopoda Tusk shells Gastropoda Snails and Slugs Cephalopoda Squids, Octopuses, etc. The mollusks or molluscs are the large and diverse phylum Mollusca which includes a vars. A favourite food is the small crustacean Gammarus, the "water flea".

It also walks and runs on the banks and rocks seeking terrestrial insects.

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 WrenThis article is about the bird. For the Ohio village, see Wren, Ohio. Donacobius ''Campylorhynchus ''Odontorchilus ''Salpinctes ''Catherpes ''Hylorchilus ''Cinnycerthia ''Thryomanes ''Ferminia ''Troglodytes ''Cistothorus ''Uropsila ''Thryorchilus ''Henico-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 KingfisherFor the UK high-street retail company, see Kingfisher plc. Alcedinidae Halcyonidae Cerylidae Kingfishers are birds of the three closely related families Alcedinidae (river kingfishers), Halcyonidae (tree kingfishers), and Cerylidae (water or belted kingfi, 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 massive 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 BlackbirdBlackbird : Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Passeriformes : Turdidae Turdus merula Binomial name ''Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 The Blackbird or Common Blackbird Turdus merula is a European member of the thrush family Turdidae. It is common in woods and gard, lined with leaves of oakThis article is about oak trees and shrubs. OAK is also the three-letter IATA airport code for Oakland International Airport in Oakland, California USA. See also Oak, Nebraska, USA. See List of Quercus species The term oak can be used as part of the commo, beechFor the beech tree, see below. Beech is also the name of an aircraft manufacturer that was purchased by Raytheon. Fagus crenata Japanese beech Fagus engleriana Chinese beech Fagus grandifolia American beech Fagus japonica Japanese blue beech Fagus longipe or other trees. Four to six white eggs are laid in March or April, and two or three broods are reared, often 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. Cinclus has a black belly band

The young are greyish brown and have no chestnut band.

Length: 7 inches