Editing White-throated dipper

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = White-throated dipper
| image = Cinclus cinclus -Kirkcudbright, Scotland-8.jpg
| image_upright = 1.2
| image_caption = In [[Kirkcudbright]], Scotland
| image2 = European Dipper (Cinclus cinclus) (W1CDR0001383 BD8).ogg
| image2_caption = Song recorded in [[Devon]]
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Cinclus cinclus'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T22708156A131946814 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22708156A131946814.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Cinclus
| species = cinclus
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| range_map = CinclusCinclusIUCN.svg
| range_map_caption =  Range of ''C. cinclus'' {{leftlegend|#008000|Resident|outline=gray}}  {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=gray}}  {{leftlegend|#FF0000|Extinct|outline=gray}}  
| synonyms = ''Sturnus cinclus'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758}}
}}

The '''white-throated dipper''' ('''''Cinclus cinclus'''''), also known as the '''European dipper''' or just '''dipper''', is an aquatic [[passerine]] [[bird]] found in [[Europe]], [[Middle East]], [[Central Asia]] and the [[Indian Subcontinent]]. The [[species]] is divided into several [[subspecies]], based primarily on colour differences, particularly of the pectoral band.

==Taxonomy and systematics==
The white-throated dipper was [[species description|described]] in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' under the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Sturnus cinclus''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=C. | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1| volume=1 | edition=10th | page=168 | publisher=Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii  | language=la | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727075 }}</ref> 
The current genus ''[[Cinclus]]'' was introduced by the German naturalist [[Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen]] in 1797.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Borkhausen | author-link=Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen | year=1797 | title=Deutsche Fauna, oder, Kurzgefasste Naturgeschichte der Thiere Deutschlands. Erster Theil, Saugthiere und Vögel | language=de | location=Frankfurt am Main | publisher=Varrentrapp und Wenner | page=300 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/38962808 }}</ref> The name ''cinclus'' is from the [[Ancient Greek]] word {{transliteration|grc|kinklos}} that was used to describe small tail-wagging birds that resided near water.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010 | title=Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | location=London | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | isbn= 978-1-4081-2501-4| page=107}}</ref> Of the five species now placed in the genus, a molecular genetic study has shown that the white-throated dipper is most closely related to the other Eurasian species, the [[brown dipper]] (''Cinclus pallasii'').<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Voelker | first=Gary | year=2002 | title=Molecular phylogenetics and the historical biogeography of dippers (''Cinclus'') | journal=Ibis | volume=144 | issue=4 | pages=577–584 | doi=10.1046/j.1474-919X.2002.00084.x }}</ref>

There are 14 [[subspecies]] of which one is now extinct (with <span style="color:red;">†</span>):<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=4 February 2019 }}</ref>
* ''C. c. hibernicus'' [[Ernst Hartert|Hartert]], 1910 – ''Irish dipper''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cinclus cinclus hibernicus (Irish dipper) - Zootierliste|url=https://zootierliste.de/en/?klasse=2&ordnung=227&familie=22721&art=55007588|access-date=2022-01-26|website=zootierliste.de/en}}</ref> – Ireland and west Scotland
* ''C. c. gularis'' ([[John Latham (ornithologist)|Latham]], 1801) – ''British dipper''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cinclus cinclus gularis (British dipper) - Zootierliste|url=https://zootierliste.de/en/?klasse=2&ordnung=227&familie=22721&art=55007587|access-date=2022-01-26|website=zootierliste.de/en}}</ref> – Scotland (except west), north, central and west England and Wales
* ''C. c. cinclus'' ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758) – ''Northern white-throated dipper''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cinclus cinclus cinclus (Northern white-throated dipper) - Zootierliste|url=https://zootierliste.de/en/?klasse=2&ordnung=227&familie=22721&art=55007589|access-date=2022-01-26|website=zootierliste.de/en}}</ref> – north Europe, west and central France and north Spain and Portugal, Corsica and Sardinia
* ''C. c. aquaticus'' ([[Johann Matthäus Bechstein|Bechstein]], 1797) – ''Central European dipper''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cinclus cinclus aquaticus (Central European dipper) - Zootierliste|url=https://zootierliste.de/en/?klasse=2&ordnung=227&familie=22721&art=55007590|access-date=2022-01-26|website=zootierliste.de/en}}</ref> – central and south Europe
*<span style="color:red;">†</span> ''C. c. olympicus'' [[Gyula Madarász|Madarász]], 1903 – Cyprus
* ''C. c. minor'' [[Henry Baker Tristram|Tristram]], 1870 – northwest Africa
* ''C. c. rufiventris'' Tristram, 1885 – west Syria and Lebanon
* ''C. c. uralensis'' [[Pavel Serebrovsky|Serebrovski]], 1927 – [[Ural Mountains]]
* ''C. c. caucasicus'' Madarász, 1903 – Turkey to the Caucasus, north Iran and north Iraq
* ''C. c. persicus'' [[Harry Forbes Witherby|Witherby]], 1906 – southwest Iran
* ''C. c. leucogaster'' [[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1850 – south-central Russia, northwest China south to Afghanistan and north Pakistan
* ''C. c. baicalensis'' [[Henry Eeles Dresser|Dresser]], 1892 – south-central and southeast Siberia
* ''C. c. cashmeriensis'' [[John Gould|Gould]], 1860 – west and central Himalayas
* ''C. c. przewalskii'' [[Valentin Bianchi|Bianchi]], 1905 – east Himalayas, south Tibet and west China

==Description==
The white-throated dipper is about {{convert|18|cm|in}} long, rotund and short tailed.{{sfn|Cramp|1988|p=510}} The head of the adult (''gularis'' and ''aquaticus'') is brown, the back slate-grey mottled with black, looking black from a distance, and the wings and tail are brown. The throat and upper breast are white, followed by a band of warm chestnut which merges into black on the belly and flanks. The bill is almost black, the legs and irides brown. ''C. c. cinclus'' has a black belly band. The young are greyish brown and have no chestnut band.

===Voice===
The male has a sweet [[Eurasian wren|wren]]-like song. During courtship the male sings whilst he runs and postures, exhibiting his snowy breast, and when displaying he will take long and high flights, like those of the [[common kingfisher]], accompanied by sharp metallic calls ''clink, clink'', different from the normal ''zil''.

==Behaviour and ecology==

The white-throated dipper is closely associated with swiftly running rivers and streams or the lakes into which they fall. It often perches bobbing spasmodically with its short tail uplifted on the rocks round which the water swirls and tumbles.

It acquired its name from these sudden dips, not from its diving habit, though it dives as well as walks into the water.

It flies rapidly and straight, its short wings whirring swiftly and without pauses or glides, calling a shrill ''zil, zil, zil''. It will then either drop on the water and dive or plunge in with a small splash.

From a perch it will walk into the water and deliberately submerge, but there is no truth in the assertion that it can defy the laws of [[specific gravity]] and walk along the bottom. Undoubtedly when entering the water it grips with its strong feet, but the method of progression beneath the surface is by swimming, using the wings effectively for flying under water. It holds itself down by muscular exertion, with its head well down and its body oblique, its course beneath the surface often revealed by a line of rising bubbles.

In this way it secures its food, usually aquatic [[invertebrate]]s including [[caddis fly|caddis worm]]s and other aquatic insect [[larva]]e, [[beetle]]s, ''[[Limnaea (snail)|Limnaea]]'', ''[[Ancylus]]'' and other freshwater [[mollusk|molluscs]], and also [[fish]] and small [[amphibian]]s. A favourite food is the small crustacean ''[[Gammarus]]'', an [[amphipod]] shrimp. It also walks and runs on the banks and rocks seeking terrestrial invertebrates. Dippers may be preyed on by predatory fish such as [[brown trout]] although only one case has been recorded for this species unlike in [[American dipper]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hegelbach, Johann |year=2014 |title=Bachforelle Salmo trutta fario erbeutet junge Wasseramsel Cinclus cinclus |url=https://www.ala-schweiz.ch/images/stories/pdf/ob/2014_111/OrnitholBeob_2014_111_121_Hegelbach.pdf |journal=Der Ornithologische Beobachter |volume=111 |issue=2 |pages=121–124 |language=de}}</ref>

The winter habits of the dipper vary considerably and apparently individually. When the swift hill streams are frozen, it is forced to descend to the lowlands and even visit the coasts, but some will remain if there is any open water.

===Breeding===
[[File:Cinclus cinclus  MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.185.1.jpg|thumb|''Cinclus cinclus '' - [[MHNT]]]]

The white-throated dippers first breed when they are one year old. They are monogamous and defend a territory. The nest is almost invariably built either very near or above water. It is often placed on a rocky ledge or in a cavity. Human-made structures such as bridges are also used. The nest consists of a dome-shaped structure made of moss, grass stems and leaves with a side entrance within which is an inner cup made of stems, rootlets and hair. Both sexes build the main larger structure, but the female builds the inner cup. The eggs are laid daily. The clutch can contain from 1-8 eggs but usually 4–5. The eggs are smooth and glossy white and are {{cvt|26|x|18.7|mm}} with a calculated weight of {{cvt|4.6|g}}. They are incubated by the female beginning after the last or sometimes the penultimate egg has been laid.{{sfn|Cramp|1988|p=521}} The male will bring food to the incubating female.{{sfn|Cramp|1988|p=519}} The eggs hatch after around 16 days and then both parents feed the altricial and nidicolous nestlings.{{sfn|Cramp|1988|p=521}} For the first 12–13 days they are brooded by the female. Both parents remove the faecal sacs for the first 9 days.{{sfn|Cramp|1988|p=519}} The chicks fledge at around 22 days of age, but the parents continue to feed their young for another week but feeding can continue for 18 days. If the female has started a second clutch, then only the male parent feeds the fledglings.{{sfn|Cramp|1988|p=521}} One or two broods are reared, usually in the same nest. When disturbed, the young that hardly feathered will at once drop into the water and dive.

The maximum recorded age of a white-throated dipper from [[Bird ringing|ring-recovery]] data is 10 years and 7 months for a bird ringed in Finland.<ref>{{cite web| title=European Longevity Records |url=https://euring.org/data-and-codes/longevity-list?page=4 |publisher=Euring | access-date=13 February 2019 }}</ref> Within the United Kingdom and Ireland the maximum age is 8 years and 9 months for a bird ringed and recovered in [[County Laois]], Ireland.<ref>{{ cite web | title= Longevity records for Britain & Ireland in 2017 | publisher=British Trust for Ornithology | url=https://blx1.bto.org/ring/countyrec/results2017/longevity.htm#10500 | access-date=13 February 2019 }}</ref>

==Dippers and humans==
The first detailed description of the white-throated dipper, dating from c.1183,  is that of [[Gerald of Wales]] (''Giraldus Cambrensis)'', the twelfth-century cleric, historian and traveller, in his book ''[[Topographia Hibernica]]'', an account of his travels through [[Ireland]] in 1183–86.<ref>Moriarty, Christopher   ''Down the Dodder''  Wolfhound Press Dublin 1991  pp.114-5</ref> Gerald, a keen observer of wildlife, describes the dipper accurately, but with his notorious tendency to believe anything he was told, which so often detracts from the value of his work,<ref>D'Arcy, Gordon  ''Ireland's Lost Birds''  Four Courts Press Dublin 1999 p.19</ref> states that it was an aberrant variety of the [[common kingfisher]]. The true kingfisher, according to Gerald, did not occur in Ireland in the 1180s, although it was widespread there by the eighteenth century.<ref>Moriarty p.115</ref>  The white-throated dipper is [[Norway]]'s [[List of national birds|national bird]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Norges nasjonalfugl fossekallen|date=22 April 2009|url=http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/ostafjells/telemark/1.6578122|language=no|publisher=Norsk Rikskringkasting AS|access-date=19 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-23 |title=Norway's National Bird: The White-throated Dipper - The Norway Guide |url=https://thenorwayguide.com/norways-national-bird/ |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=thenorwayguide.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Cinclus cinclus -Brandon Creek, County Kerry, Ireland-8.jpg|At Brandon Creek, County Kerry, Ireland
File:White-throated Dipper from Tawang river, near Jung, Arunachal Pradesh India 26032019.jpg|From Jung town in [[Arunachal Pradesh]] in eastern Himalayas [[India]]
File:Cinclus cinclus MWNH 1850.JPG|Eggs, Collection [[Museum Wiesbaden]], [[Germany]]
File:White-throated Dipper young one begging for food.jpg|White-throated Dipper young one begging for food, at Sumdo, Ladakh, India
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{ cite book | editor1-last=Cramp | editor1-first=Stanley | display-editors=etal | editor1-link=Stanley Cramp | year=1988 | chapter=''Cinclus cinclus'' Dipper | title=Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic | volume=V: Tyrant Flycatchers to Thrushes | place=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | pages=510–524 | isbn=978-0-19-857508-5 }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Cinclus cinclus}}
*{{field guide birds of the world|Cinclus cinclus}}
*{{Avibase|name=Cinclus cinclus}}
*[http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/white-throated-dipper-cinclus-cinclus White-throated Dipper videos, photos & sounds] on the Internet Bird Collection
*[http://blascozumeta.com/wp-content/uploads/aragon-birds/passeriformes/322.dipper-ccinclus.pdf Ageing and sexing by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q201831}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cinclus|white-throated dipper]]
[[Category:Birds of Europe]]
[[Category:Birds of Central Asia]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1758|white-throated dipper]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]