American Dipper – Photo by Lou Ann Harris
Photo by Lou Ann Harris
The American Dipper, North America’s only true aquatic songbird, is a year-round resident of Montana. Fly-fishermen will be well acquainted with the dipper, also known as an “ouzel”. This chunky gray bird prefers a fast-flowing stream where they swim or walk on the river bottom to catch aquatic insects and larvae. They also eat dragonflies, worms, small fish and fish eggs.
The male and female share nest-building duties and will select a site in a rock crevice, behind a waterfall, in an overhanging stream bank or under a bridge. They create an intricate ball-shaped nest that features two layers. The outer shell is made of moss and the inner chamber has a woven cup of grass & bark. Since the nest location is close to water, the moss layer helps absorb moisture. It’s interesting to note that the site selection takes into account security from flooding. The female lays 4-5 white eggs, incubating them 14-17 days. The nestlings fledge after about 25 days.
The dipper’s distinctive traits include frequent bobbing up and down (dipping) while perched on a rock, a blinking white eyelid and feeding behavior of jumping or diving into turbulent water. The American Dipper seems impervious to frigid winter temperatures, and indeed, has a specially adapted low metabolic rate, extra oxygen-carrying capacity in its blood and a thick coat of feathers. Dippers don’t migrate south, so they usually have to move to bigger unfrozen rivers in winter.
The elaborate song of the dipper was once described by John Muir as “that of the streams refined and spiritualized. The deep booming notes of the falls are in it, the trills of the rapids, the gurgling of margin eddies, the low whispering of level reaches, and the sweet tinkle of separate drops oozing from the ends of mosses and falling into tranquil ponds”. The song is piercing, varied and loud. and can be heard 100 meters away. Listen for the song of the dipper even in mid to late winter.
The oldest American Dipper on record was over 8 years old, when it was recaptured and released in South Dakota.
