Editing American dipper

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = American dipper
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Cinclus mexicanus'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T22708163A94152063 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22708163A94152063.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref>
| image = American Dipper.jpg
| taxon = Cinclus mexicanus
| authority = [[William Swainson|Swainson]], 1827
| range_map = Cinclus mexicanus map.svg
| range_map_caption = Distribution map
}}

The '''American dipper''' ('''''Cinclus mexicanus'''''), also known as a '''water ouzel''', is a [[semiaquatic]] bird species native to western [[North America]].

== Description ==
It is a stocky grey [[bird]] with a head sometimes tinged with brown, and white [[feather]]s on the eyelids that cause the eyes to flash white as the bird blinks.<ref>{{cite web |title=American Dipper Overview |url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Dipper/overview |website=All About Birds |access-date=19 May 2025}}</ref> It is {{cvt|16.5|cm}} long, has a wingspan of {{Convert|23|cm|in|abbr=on}},<ref>{{Cite web|last=Oiseaux.net|title=Cincle d'Amérique - Cinclus mexicanus - American Dipper|url=https://www.oiseaux.net/birds/american.dipper.html|access-date=2020-09-28|website=www.oiseaux.net|language=en}}</ref> and weighs on average {{cvt|46|g}}.

==Taxonomy==
The American dipper was [[species description|described]] by the English zoologist [[William Swainson]] in 1827 based on a specimen that had been collected in Mexico by the English naturalist [[William Bullock (collector)|William Bullock]]. Swainson placed the new species with the dippers in the genus ''[[Cinclus]]'' and coined the current [[binomial name]] ''Cinclus mexicanus''.<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Swainson | first=William | author-link=William Swainson | year=1827 | title=A synopsis of birds discovered in Mexico by W. Bullock F.L.S. and H.S. and Mr. William Bullock, jun. | journal=Philosophical Magazine | volume=1 | series=New series | pages=364–370 [368] | doi=10.1080/14786442708674330 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15530378 }}</ref> The [[type locality (biology)|type locality]] is [[Temascaltepec de González]] in Mexico.<ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1960 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=9 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology  | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | page=378 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14481053 }}</ref>

There are five [[subspecies]]:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2019 | title=Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds | work=World Bird List Version 9.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/dippers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=9 February 2019 }}</ref>

* ''C. m. mexicanus'' [[William Swainson|Swainson]], 1827 – north and central Mexico
* ''C. m. anthonyi'' [[Ludlow Griscom|Griscom]], 1930 – southeast Mexico, southwest Guatemala, east Honduras and northwest Nicaragua
* ''C. m. ardesiacus'' [[Osbert Salvin|Salvin]], 1867 – Costa Rica and west Panama
* ''C. m. dickermani'' [[Allan Robert Phillips|Phillips, AR]], 1966 – south Mexico
* ''C. m. unicolor'' [[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1827 – Alaska, west Canada and west USA

==Distribution and habitat==
The American dipper inhabits the mountainous regions of [[Central America]] and western North America from Panama to Alaska. It is usually a [[bird migration|permanent]] [[resident bird|resident]], moving slightly south or to lower elevations if necessary to find food or unfrozen water. The presence of this [[indicator species]] shows good water quality; it has vanished from some locations due to [[pollution]] or increased silt load in streams.
 
==Behaviour and ecology==
The American dipper defends a [[wildlife corridor|linear territory]] along streams. In most of its habits, it closely resembles its [[Europe]]an counterpart, the [[white-throated dipper]] (''Cinclus cinclus)'', which is also sometimes known as a water ouzel.

===Breeding===
The American dipper's nest is a globe-shaped structure with a side entrance, close to water, on a rock ledge, river bank, behind a waterfall or under a bridge. The normal clutch is 2–4 white eggs, incubated solely by the female, which hatch after about 15–17 days, with another 20–25 days to fledging. The male helps to feed the young. The maximum recorded age from [[Bird ringing|ring-recovery]] data of an American dipper is 8 years and 1 month for a bird ringed and recovered in South Dakota.<ref>{{ cite web | title=Longevity Records of North American Birds | publisher=United States Geological Survey | url=https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/longevity/Longevity_main.cfm | access-date=13 February 2019 }}</ref>

===Feeding===
It feeds on aquatic [[insect]]s and their larvae, including [[dragonfly]] nymphs, small crayfish, and [[caddisfly]] larvae. It may also take tiny fish or [[tadpole]]s.

=== Predators ===
Dippers may occasionally be preyed on by predatory fish such as by [[brook trout]],  [[bull trout|bull]] or [[Dolly Varden trout]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Elliott |first1=Charles L. |last2=Peck |first2=Steve|year=1980|title= Dipper swallowed by trout.| journal= Wilson Bull.|volume= 92|page= 524|url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v092n04/p0524-p0524.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Johnson, N. K. |year=1953|title= Dipper eaten by Brook trout| journal= Condor |volume=55|page= 158}}</ref>

===History===
The American dipper, previously known as the water-ouzel, was the favorite bird of famous naturalist [[John Muir]]. He dedicated an entire chapter in his book ''The Mountains of California'' to the ouzel stating "He is the mountain streams' own darling, the humming-bird of blooming waters, loving rocky ripple-slopes and sheets of foam as a bee loves flowers, as a lark loves sunshine and meadows. Among all the mountain birds, none has cheered me so much in my lonely wanderings, —none so unfailingly. For both in winter and summer he sings, sweetly, cheerily, independent alike of sunshine and of love, requiring no other inspiration than the stream on which he dwells. While water sings, so must he, in heat or cold, calm or storm, ever attuning his voice in sure accord; low in the drought of summer and the drought of winter, but never silent."<ref>{{cite web |title=American Dipper or Water-Ouzel |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/boise/learning/?cid=stelprdb5309794&width=full |website=USDA Forest Service - Boise National Forest |access-date=9 September 2021}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Cinclus mexicanus - Nason Creek, Washington, USA -juvenile-8.jpg|Juvenile in Nason Creek, Washington, USA
File:CinclusArdesiacusWolf.jpg|Subspecies ''C. m. ardesiacus'', lithograph by [[Joseph Wolf]], 1867
File:Cinclus mexicanus Zion.webm|Foraging in a stream
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* Erlich et al. ''The Birder's Handbook''
* Stiles and Skutch,  ''A guide to the birds of Costa Rica''  {{ISBN|0-8014-9600-4}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*[http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i7010id.html American Dipper - ''Cinclus mexicanus''] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
*[http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Dipper.html American Dipper Species Account] - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20001029180415/http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/13400300.htm Stamps]}} for [[United States]]
*[http://www.scienceperspectives.com/The-Dipper-Plain-but-not-ordinary.htm The Dipper - Plain, yes, but not so ordinary]
*[http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=american+dipper&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 American Dipper photo gallery] VIREO
*Short radio episode [https://web.archive.org/web/20040523194932/http://californialegacy.org/radio_anthology/scripts/muir.html ''The Water-Ouzel''], from ''The Mountains of California'', by John Muir 1894. [[California Legacy Project]].
* [http://www.voiceforthewild.org/bhnf/pubs/dipper_fact1.html The American Dipper and Biodiversity Conservation Alliance]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q912010}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cinclus|American dipper]]
[[Category:Native birds of Alaska]]
[[Category:Birds of the Aleutian Islands]]
[[Category:Native birds of Western Canada]]
[[Category:Native birds of the Northwestern United States]]
[[Category:Native birds of the Western United States]]
[[Category:Native birds of the West Coast of the United States]]
[[Category:Birds of the Sierra Nevada (United States)]]
[[Category:Birds of Mexico]]
[[Category:Birds of Central America]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1827|American dipper]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Taxa named by William Swainson]]
[[Category:Birds of the Sierra Madre Occidental]]