Dipper - The Bird of Two Worlds

Now I want to talk about one of my favourite birds in this post the European Dipper (Cinclus cinclus), which is also known as the White-throated dipper or just a Dipper. Now the reason this is my favourite birds is the fact that I associate it closely with my hobby of white water kayaking.

These birds are found throughout Europe along with section of Russia, Asia, the Middle East and the Northern tip of Africa. They are found in close proximity to fast running rivers or streams, which provide them with a good supply of aquatic invertebrates. Their name is derived from their characteristic behaviour of bobbing and dipping whilst perched on rock and branches close to the river.

Now I’m not simply writing about the dipper because it is my favourite bird, although that is at least partly the reason. They are an unusual bird as they hunt for their prey in the fast moving waters of upland streams, they are unique in the order Passeriformes as the only species which exhibits this aquatic hunting behaviour. Not only that they don’t possess webbed feet to aid them in the water like other birds such as mallards. Instead dippers feet as almost identical to birds such as Robins or Wagtails, which in fact helps them as it gives the dipper the ability to cling to the rocks and other substrata on the floor of the river. Along with the feet a dipper uses its wings to aid in balance and as an aquatic spoiler to help provide downwards pressure to keep them on the river bed.

They are capable of remaining submerged for up to 30 seconds at a time thanks to nasal flaps which prevent water from entering their nostrils during their hunt for insect larvae and freshwater shrimps.  Other adaptations the dipper has for its partially aquatic existence are their well developed focusing muscles in their eye to allow them to easily focus on the fast moving insects they search for, and their solid bones which increase their weight and so reduce their buoyancy.

Dippers breed annually with nest being found in enclosed spaces such as pipes and crevices close to the river which they rely on. A brood usually consists of up to 6 eggs which are incubated for a period of around 16 days before hatching. It then takes a further 20-24 days for each of the hatchlings to fledge and leave the nest completely. Dippers are capable of producing another clutch of eggs each season if conditions are favourable. Despite knowing the breeding behaviour of Dippers we still know very little about their lives as their aquatic existence makes them unsuitable for ringing so it’s a struggle to follow an individual.

Although overall the Dipper population is relatively stable throughout its range it is experiencing local population declines and extinction due to a number of reasons, water pollution, increased turbidity due to increased erosion and most importantly the acidification of upland streams. This occurs due to airborne pollutants from human activity, along with the dramatic changes occurring in upper catchment areas such as the removal of trees. The acidification of streams has two resulting effects, first of all the abundance of the dippers prey items decreases, it also is believed to be related to the calcium deficiency in the mature females which leads to thinner egg shells resulting in fewer successful clutches.

So hopefully a lot of the people will get a chance to see these birds at some point, just get out there and go into the hills to find a stream.

Thanks for reading!

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