Cinclus mexicanus

The American dipper is a chunky, robin-size songbird of Western mountain streams. It likes swift-flowing streams with rocky or gravel bottoms.

The dipper is the only songbird in North America that can be described as aquatic. It catches insects such as stoneflies, caddisflies and mayflies underwater as it walks on the bottom of a stream, flipping small rocks and pebbles over. The dipper has a unique adaptation for this underwater foraging. It has a nictitating membrane that covers its eye, much like a divers mask, allowing it to keep its eyes open while underwater.

The plumage of the dipper is gray throughout.

Dippers are now building nests along streams in Utah. The nest is usually built over water under an overhanging structure, such as a bridge. Several American dippers were recently seen at the Stokes Nature Center along the Logan River.

To be able to survive in cold waters during the winter, the American dipper has a low metabolic rate, extra oxygen-carrying capacity in its blood and a thick coat of feathers.

Unlike most other songbirds, but similar to ducks, the American dipper molts its wing and tail feathers all at once in the late summer. The bird is flightless during this time.

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* BILL FENIMORE is owner of the Layton Wild Bird Center (www.wildbird.com/layton).