If you have spent time at the Falls of Clyde reserve, you may have spotted this plump, handsome little bird hunting for insects and fish in the fast flowing waters.

Dippers have very specially adapted irises that possess stronger than usual sphincter muscles, called focus muscles. These enable the dipper to alter the curvature of their eye lens so that they can alter their vision depending on whether they are in the water or the air. They also have something called a nictitating membrane. Although virtually all birds possess this special eyelid and utilize it when flying to protect the eyes from air and debris, dippers also utilize this eyelid underwater to aid their vision beneath the surface. The European/white-throated dipper ( Cinclus cinclus) can be found throughout the Palearctic, including much of Europe, the Middle East, portions of central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent in southern Asia. Though aquatic birds aren’t exactly uncommon (penguins, anyone?), aquatic songbirds are. In fact, dippers are the only known aquatic songbirds in the world, relying on fast-moving water for nearly all of their food (though they will eat the occasional flying insect above the water). Evolution has geared them heavily toward life in the water, from higher concentrations of hemoglobin in the blood to special eye morphology (both of which are discussed below). 8. They Can Walk Underwater Often, parents will reuse the same nest year after year, and young may later use the same nest that they themselves were reared in. The females exclusively incubate the eggs, but both the male and female contribute to feeding the young once hatched. After the young fledge within about one month, the parents part ways. 7. Aquatic Birds A white-capped dipper keeps an eye out for food. Photo by Francesco Veronesi / CC BY-SA 2.0 Jobling, James A. (2010). Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p.107. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.

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Ormerod, S.; Tyler, S. (2020). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Dippers (Cinclidae)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. doi: 10.2173/bow.cincli1.01. S2CID 242827109 . Retrieved 11 February 2019. The text is identical to Volume 10 of the print edition published in 2005. Dippers are members of the genus Cinclus in the bird family Cinclidae, so-called because of their bobbing or dipping movements. They are unique among passerines for their ability to dive and swim underwater.

a b Voelker, Gary (2002). "Molecular phylogenetics and the historical biogeography of dippers ( Cinclus)". Ibis. 144 (4): 577–584. doi: 10.1046/j.1474-919X.2002.00084.x. In normal years, we would run a ‘dipper watch’ at the reserve every weekend through the summer, but even with the Covid-19 restrictions you can still spot them yourself – either head to the dipper watch platform just down from the reserve entrance at New Lanark or look downstream from Bonnington weir after a period of rain. Happy spotting!

Dippers are most common in upland areas of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Northern England, although they are also widespread in Wales and southwestern England. The species has a discontinuous range elsewhere in Mainland Europe and Central Asia. Where do Dippers live? Dipper birds are incredibly unique passerine birds (perching songbirds) that are considered “truly aquatic,” meaning that they obtain all of their food from water sources like rivers and streams and can even swim. a b c d e f g h i j Tyler, Stephanie J.; Ormerod, Stephen J. (1994). The Dippers. London: Poyser. ISBN 0-85661-093-3.