White-throated Dipper

The white-throated dipper, also known as the European dipper or simply the dipper, is an aquatic passerine of Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. It is about 18 cm long, rotund and short-tailed, divided into several subspecies based primarily on colour differences, particularly of the pectoral band. The head of the adult (gularis and aquaticus) is brown and the back slate-grey mottled black, looking black from a distance, with brown wings and tail; the throat and upper breast are white, followed by a band of warm chestnut that merges into black on the belly and flanks, while the nominate cinclus has a black belly band. The young are greyish-brown with no chestnut band (Wikipedia, general species account).

The male has a sweet, wren-like song. In courtship he sings while running and posturing, showing his snowy breast, and makes long, high flights like those of the common kingfisher, with sharp metallic calls, clink, clink. The eggs are laid daily, the clutch can contain one to eight eggs but four or five are usual, and the male brings food to the incubating female. White-throated dippers first breed at one year old. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority, a resident and altitudinal migrant of non-specialised habitat with a Moderate range of about 55,300 km² and insufficient data on trends (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).