Thursday, July 16, 2015

American Dipper

American Dipper
 The American dipper is not your typical songbird. They are not cute and colorful and popular on blog posts. However they are very fascinating as the are the only aquatic songbird in North America. The American dipper preys on aquatic insects and small fish which it often catches under the water. They find their prey by constantly dipping their head under the water, which is how they got their name.
American Dipper
 The American dipper is found along streams and rivers in the western half of North and Central America, from Alaska to Panama. They are not migratory and stay on territory year round. An abundance of feathers and a slow metabolic rate allow them to survive the freezing river temperatures even during the winter. The white spot in the photo above is the eye lid. These photos were taken on the Yellowstone River.

4 comments:

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

great shots. I watched a UK Dipper theother day for quite a long time.

A Colorful World said...

I think it's less a factor of them not being popular, but that they are a little hard to find. We saw one diving into the water catching fish when hiking in the Grand Canyon 35 years ago! And I haven't seen one since. But then I am not able to get out and hike like we did back then, not since we've moved back to the West. It's a really cool bird and your photo is wonderful!

Roger Owen Green said...

nice bird

ROG, ABCW

Rohrerbot said...

They are awesome to me! I just haven't seen one this year or they would be on my blog:)