Dippers are cute and plump birds and are not intimidated even by the strongest currents (unlike me who shudders at even the thought of crossing a gentle flowing stream!). As the name might suggest, these birds love to take a dip in the water! But dip might be an understatement.

Dippers are small birds that are commonly found near fast moving streams. In the Himalayas you are likely to spot this bird near gushing mountain and upland streams. What is most interesting is their behaviour and how their habitats are so specific to running water streams. For example, during our numerous visits to the Himalayas, we always sighted Dippers alone or in pairs, in places where water was flowing and mostly unpolluted. A small stretch would at most have one or pair of Dippers.

There are two species of Dippers found in India. There is the Brown Dipper and the White-throated Dipper. As the name suggests, the former appears more brown and the latter has an obvious white throat. However, while one cannot tell between the sexes in Dippers, juveniles can easily be told apart.

Dippers can be found at altitudes as high as 5000m above sea level. Even in general, they are found in relatively high altitudes and so you can imagine how freezing the water must be at these heights!

So while we are making sure our feet and shoes don’t get wet in the ice-cold water, we see dippers taking an almost suicidal dive into the gushing ice-cold water and then reappearing from else where! Their insatiable taste for invertebrate critters is satisfied by their amazing hunting and swimming abilities. Here is an incredible video showing their diving behaviour.

At other times, they may lazily walk at the edge of the river banks searching for its prey.

Thanks to Ashwin Mohan for his inputs.

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