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Dippers are plain-colored, short-tailed, unassuming little birds with a fluttery but fast flight and a modest song. The name 'dipper' comes from their characteristic bobbing motions as they perch on rocks and stones. They also have the startling habit of feeding underwater in ice-cold rushing mountain streams, using their wings to fly beneath the surface and their strong feet to grip the bottom and counteract the buoyancy of the air layer trapped in their feathers. Often they look a bit like rock climbers wedging up a chute (immediately below at right). They hunt by ducking their heads to peer underwater, then casually diving into the water and popping up a few feet away, sometimes with a small insect tidbit that is quickly consumed. Dippers lack contrasty plumage patterns, but their eyelids can flash starkly white when their eyes are closed, as can be seen in one of these images. Their nests are neat mossy balls placed on steep rock faces near water, often constructed behind waterfalls and sometimes on bridges. These dippers were feeding in upper Bishop Creek on the east side of the Sierra Nevada in Inyo County, California. Additional dipper images from the Merced River in Yosemite National Park are on this page; another page shows dippers in Zion Canyon. |
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