Page 292 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

WRENS, DIPPERS,WAXWINGS,AND ACCENTORS
Order Passeriformes Family Cinclidae Species Cinclus cinclus
Dipper deep brown
head

blackish from
thickset back to tail
shape
stout dark
bill
ADULT
IN FLIGHT
pale feather edges bold white
chest
chestnut band
on belly
greyer
body thick black legs
with large feet

JUVENILE
ew birds are so strictly confined
F to one habitat type as the Dipper.
In summer, it is essentially a bird
of fast-flowing, but often tree-lined
rivers in uplands. It remains there if it ADULT
can in winter, but hard weather may drive
it lower down or even to the edges of large lakes and reservoirs
or the sea coast. It is quite at home swimming and diving, or simply
walking into the water and disappearing underneath as it searches
for food. Its springy,bouncing movements and call are also distinctive. FLIGHT: low, fast, along stream line; fast bursts
VOICE Sharp, hard, abrupt, and penetrating dzit or djink; song of wingbeats.
loud, rich warbling mixed with explosive, grating notes.
NESTING Ball-shaped nest of moss and grass in hole in bank, under overhang
or bridge, and behind waterfall; 4–6 eggs; 2 broods;April–July.
FEEDING Unique, walking into water, swimming and diving from surface,
or wading into shallows, foraging for caddis-fly and other larvae, small fish,
crustaceans, and molluscs.
REMARK Subspecies
C. c. hibernicus (Scotland
and Ireland) has narrow,
darker chestnut belly band.
OCCURRENCE
SUBSPECIES Local in upland areas, absent from
Iceland, W France, and NE Europe,
C. c. cinclus (N Europe, but breeding widely elsewhere in
N France) suitable habitat: clean, fresh rivers,
blacker in moorland areas or tree-lined
valleys, or deep in shady gorges.
In winter, some move out to larger
areas of water, rarely coasts.
all-dark CAMOUFLAGE PATTERN
belly Seen in the UK
The bright white chest surprisingly serves to render the Dipper less
conspicuous in the ripples and reflections of a stony river. J F M A M JJ A S O N D
Length 18cm (7in) Wingspan 25–30cm (10–12in) Weight 55–75g (2–2 5 ⁄8oz)
Social Solitary Lifespan Up to 5 years Status Secure†
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