White-throated Dipper

About the White-throated Dipper

The white-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus), also known as the European dipper or just dipper, is an aquatic, passerine bird found in Europe, the 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.

The white-throated dipper was described in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Sturnus cinclus. The current genus Cinclus was introduced by German naturalist Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen in 1797. The name cinclus is from the Ancient Greek word kinklos that was used to describe small, tail-wagging birds that resided near water. 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).

The 14 subspecies, including one now extinct (with †) are: C. c. hibernicus Hartert, 1910 – Irish dipper – Ireland and west Scotland C. c. gularis (Latham, 1801) – British dipper – Scotland (except west), north, central and west England and... Wikipedia →