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White-throated dipper

White-throated dipper

A songbird that can swim

You might see a White-throated dipper on the rocks in the middle of the mountain rapids. At first glance, it resembles a common blackbird found in settlements, but this distant mountain cousin has a brownish head and a white throat and chest. Its beak is dark, not yellow like that of the blackbird.

Source: Pixabay

White-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus)

Size
  • up to 20 cm, wingspan up to 30 cm

Weight
  • up to 60 g

Diet
  • crustaceans, fish, mollusks, insect larvae

Habitat
  • clean mountain rivers and rapids; north-western Slovenia
 

 
Kingdom

  • Animalia
Phylum
  • Chordata
Class
  • Aves
Order

  • Passeriformes
Family

  • Cinclidae
Genus
  • Cinclus
Species
  • White-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus)

 

The White-throated dipper lives in the mountainous areas of Slovenia along clear mountain rivers and rapids. Standing on a rock or in flight, it forages for food. It eats crabs, small fish, molluscs, insect larvae and other invertebrates. It forages underwater by walking on the ground and turning over stones on the river bottom.

 

The water racer is a skilled diver. It dives briefly, flapping its wings as it does so. After diving, it preens its feathers to be ready to fly or dive again. To keep the feathers watertight, he lubricates them with oil produced in a gland at the base of his tail.

The White-throated dipper nests near water, above rapids, in rock hollows, between tree roots, under banks and even under the curtain of a waterfall. It nests from April to July. The nest is large, surrounded by moss, and lined with grass and leaves. The female lays 3 to 6 eggs.

Source: Pixabay

The White-throated dipper is the only songbird that can dive and swim.

DID YOU KNOW?

  1. The most common floodplains are the Savica, Radovna, Triglavska Bistrica and Soča rivers.
  2. The male and female defend their territory. They usually use the higher rocks on the river as a kind of lookout.