Dipper is the name of a group of small birds that dive and walk underwater. Dippers live along swift mountain streams in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The American dipper, also called the Mexican dipper, is found from Alaska to Central America. In western North America, it is commonly known as the water ouzel. Dippers were named for their habit of bobbing up and down as they stand or walk.
Dippers grow 51/2 to 71/2 inches (14 to 19 centimeters) long. Most dippers have slate-gray to brown feathers. Some dippers have a white throat or head. Dippers have short wings and a short tail. They stay underwater by opening their wings and tilting them slightly upstream. The flowing water holds the birds on the stream bottom while they walk along searching for such food as water insects, flatworms, small fish, and some plant life. After feeding, the birds close their wings and bob to the surface like a cork. In the winter, they find holes in the ice to dive through.
Dippers build dome-shaped nests of moss behind waterfalls or under overhanging rocks above streams. The female dipper lays three to seven white eggs.
