American Dipper

About the American Dipper

The American dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), also known as a water ouzel, is a semiaquatic bird species native from North America. The American dipper is a stocky, grey bird with a head sometimes tinged with brown, and white feathers on the eyelids that cause the eyes to flash white as the bird blinks. On average, it measures 16.5 cm (6.5 in) in length, has a wingspan of 23 cm (9.1 in), and weighs 46 g (1.6 oz).

The American dipper was described by English zoologist William Swainson in 1827 based on a specimen that had been collected in Mexico by English naturalist William Bullock. Swainson placed the new species with the dippers in the genus Cinclus and coined the current binomial name Cinclus mexicanus. The type locality is Temascaltepec de González in Mexico.

The five subspecies are: C. m. mexicanus Swainson, 1827 – north and central Mexico C. m. anthonyi Griscom, 1930 – southeast Mexico, southwest Guatemala, east Honduras and northwest Nicaragua C. m. ardesiacus Salvin, 1867 – Costa Rica and west Panama

C. m. dickermani Phillips, AR, 1966 – south Mexico C. m. unicolor Bonaparte, 1827 – Alaska, west Canada and west USA Wikipedia →