American Dippers: The Most Aquatic of Song Birds

The American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) is the duck of song birds and a regular and year round resident of the San Miguel River and all fast flowing oxygenated western rivers. Their "dipper" descriptor describes 2 or 3 behaviors of the dipper from dipping, diving and walking underwater, to wagging their tail and bobbing up and down in dance-like behavior. The American Dipper has evolved several extraordinary adaptations to enable this species to glean their food from under river stones of fast flowing rivers. Stay tuned to Voices of the Valley Floor-a and Fauna to learn how these birds survive in our rivers all year round. 

Photo: American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) in the San Miguel River.  Photo Credit: Eric Hynes 2020