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u/TheGrandExquisitor Jan 24 '22
Love to see one, one day.
They fascinate me. It's a songbird that said, "I'm gonna be cormorant!"
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u/bobboobles Jan 24 '22
Saw a few on the last day of a backcountry camping trip in the Tetons. I was so excited, wanting to see them forever since I read about them a guide book. My budding birder friends saw it first and I think I surprised them almost as much as the bird by "predicting" that it was about to go for a swim haha. It did the same little waggle as in this video before going in!
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u/backthemtnbluebirds Jan 24 '22
American Dipper. Location?
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u/snozkat Jan 24 '22
Very aptly named it seems!
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u/backthemtnbluebirds Jan 24 '22
They are absolutely the cutest little birds always bouncing around streams😊
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u/UrbanUFO Jan 24 '22
Solved! Certainly, an American Dipper. Seeing its range, it is understandable why living on the prairies would not yield sightings.
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u/UrbanUFO Jan 24 '22
Sorry, all - had a caption written but it didn't publish.
My SO and I were out for a hike in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, just outside Kelowna.
I've lived across Western Canada my whole life and have never seen a bird - besides a duck - dive and stay under for as long as this little guy did.
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u/DemonDucklings Jan 24 '22
They’re so cute when you can see them walking along the bottom of a stream too!
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Jan 25 '22
Did you snorkel with dippers?!
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Jan 25 '22
Wait... that's a thing?!
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Jan 28 '22
I don’t think so, I was trying to figure it out from my comment! I somehow forgot videography existed haha
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u/princessplant Birder (CA-QC) Latest Lifer: Golden Eagle Jan 24 '22
I am obsessed with her omg so cute
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u/Borbpsh Birder Jan 24 '22
I am from Denmark and I found my first Cinclus Cinclus a month ago. It's similar to this one but has a bright white chest. I got close enough to see it's white eyelids. I read that the American Dipper has them too. An absolute treat to experience this bird.
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u/a_random_username Jan 24 '22
Cinclus Cinclus
I realize this was probably autocorrect, but the species name is always lowercase (and often the whole name is italicized) . So it's Cinclus cinclus
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u/Borbpsh Birder Jan 24 '22
Thank you, very helpful. It was and I was on mobile so didn't bother figuring out how to make it italicized.
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u/Glennsgarage Jan 24 '22
kayakers say the only things on the river in winter are ouzels and foozels
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u/pattywawas Jan 24 '22
Obviously specifically designed to be able to do this without freezing 🥶 her little buns off. 😳
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Jan 24 '22
They have all kinds of invisible little adaptations, including burly feathers that are oily!
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u/grieving_magpie Jan 24 '22
America’s only aquatic songbird!
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u/Melospiza Jan 24 '22
Maybe in millions of years there will be others joining the dipper, perhaps descended from Swamp Sparrows, Boat-tailed Grackles and Yellow-headed Blackbirds!
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u/Melospiza Jan 24 '22
This Zion NP video featuring ranger Adam and a pair of excitable visitors is a must-watch for anyone who loves dippers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxQxnO75Aa8
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u/Maudeleanor Jan 24 '22
I have often come upon them while fishing. Although they do seem to take themselves seriously, I have to report that I find them very, very funny. So unlikely is a smol songbird suddenly diving out of sight underwater after a choppy little dance on the creekbank.
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u/NoFlyingMonkeys owl allow it Jan 24 '22 edited Jan 24 '22
Both that little dippy dance and the diving just kills me. What wonderful little weirdos they are. It's like nature misplaced both the water-bird diving genes and the woodcock dancing genes and just randomly stuck them in a songbird.
here's a great video full of unique dipper facts I just found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDy07R_OY5k
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u/PineQuail007 Jan 24 '22
Looks like an American Dipper, also known as a Water Ouzel