American Dipper: The bird that flies under water

Last weekend, while standing on the boat ramp where Deep Creek drains into the Kootenai River, I noticed an unusual bird.

At first glance, I thought it was a fish swimming in the shallows of the river, but on second glance, I saw it was a bird that was flying under water. In the next glance I saw the small grey bird surface with a minnow in his beak. His head was slightly lighter colored as he quickly titled his head and swallowed the small fish. After shaking his beak back and forth he dove in the water searching for another meal.

The chunky grey bird was an American Dipper. The dipper makes his home in north-western streams and is North America’s only truly aquatic songbird. It catches most of its food underwater in swiftly flowing streams by swimming and walking on the stream bottom.

Dippers take their name from their characteristic bobbing. Unlike a Spotted Sandpiper or other tail-bobbers, dippers move their entire bodies up and down. This bobbing, and the flashing of the white upper eyelid, may be visual communications that are important because of the loud environment that American Dippers tend to inhabit.

Dippers catch most of their food under water, and jump or dive into frigid water to forage. They walk, heads submerged, along river bottoms, moving rocks to find prey underneath. The dipper takes prey from the water’s surface while swimming, and will even use its wings to ‘fly’ under water. This bird will also fly through waterfalls.

These birds are generally solitary and defend both summer and winter territories. Their calls and songs are loud, audible above the sound of rushing water.

American Dippers live almost solely on rushing, unpolluted waters and can be found in mountain, coastal, or even desert streams of the West. Dippers forage in streams with rocky bottoms, and they use streams with overhanging banks for cover and nesting locations.

Dippers don’t migrate south, though they may move to larger, unfrozen rivers in winter or follow insect hatches in spring or summer. To be able to survive in cold waters during the winter, the American Dipper has a low metabolic rate, extra oxygen-carrying capacity in its blood, and a thick coat of feathers.

American Dippers feed on aquatic insects and their larvae, including mayflies, and mosquitoes. They also eat dragonflies, worms, small fish, fish eggs, or flying insects. American Dippers rapidly duck their heads in and out of water when looking for their stream-dwelling prey.

The Dipper chooses a nest site along a stream that provides security from floods and predators. Males and females may work together to build the ball-like nest, often in freezing temperatures.

Materials are dipped into water before being weaved into two layers: one, an outer shell, 8-10 inches in diameter, is made of moss, and the other an inner chamber with a woven cup, 2-3 inches in diameter, is made of grass, leaves, and bark. Once the nest is finished, the mossy shell absorbs moisture and the coarse grass keeps the inside dry.

After a few minutes of watching the dipper in the waters of the Kootenai, he noticed my presence and flew away. It was amazing how a bird could use his wings to swim under water and minutes later fly away with a full belly after eating a minnow. As he took flight I thought how this pudgy little bird may not look like anything special but beneath its underwhelming exterior beats the heart of a champion.

The oldest known American Dipper was over eight years old when it was recaptured and re-released during a banding operation in South Dakota.

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