Photo © by Alok Tewari
Dist. Nainital, Alt.5000 ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 11 November 2013
- Cinclus pallasii
Identification
21-23cm (8¼-9 in)
- Overall dark chocolate-brown plumage including the head
- More rufous-tinged back and breast
- Darker wings and tail
- Brown iris with white-feathered eyelids
- Bill is blackish, slender and slightly hooked.
- Legs and feet are blackish-brown.
The female is slightly smaller than male. Juvenile s duller with blackish-brown plumage. Its head and throat are spotted greyish-white. Its back, breast and belly have greyish-white scalloping. The tail, secondaries and tertials are edged greyish-white.
Distribution
Asia: found in Russia, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, China, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Eastern and Western Himalayas, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Korea, Japan, Taiwan
Southeast Asia: Indochina, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]:
- C. p. tenuirostris: paler than nominate
- C. p. dorjei: darker and smaller than nominate
- C. p. pallasii:
A fourth subspecies, C. p. marila confined to Taiwan is now merged with nominate.
Habitat
Fast flowing montane forest rivers, 1500-3200 m.
Behaviour
Forages by diving into streams or wading in shallow water. It often blinks while diving, showing the white eyelid which contrasts with its dark plumage.
Diet
It feeds from the bottom of rivers; the diet includes aquatic insect larvae, crabs and fish.
Breeding
It nests on rocks; both parents make the nest from grass, roots, moss and is lined with leaves. The clutch of 3-5 eggs is incubated by the female for 19-20 days, though both parents feed the young.
Vocalisations
Main call is a sharp zit zit or dzchit dzchit similar to White-throated Dipper. The song is a loud, rich warble which includes buzzing notes, trills and rattles.
Movements
Mostly resident with some seasonal down-slope movement.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Wikipedia contributors. (2019, March 4). Brown dipper. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:02, April 17, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brown_dipper&oldid=886132509
- BirdForum Member observations
- Ormerod, S., Tyler, S. & Bonan, A. (2019). Brown Dipper (Cinclus pallasii). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/58088 on 11 April 2019).
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Brown Dipper. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brown_Dipper
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
