Possessing more contour feathers than birds of similar size, Black Hills dippers are able to maintain normal body temperatures in extremely cold air and water. Photo © USFWS
A Western Songbird At Risk
The Black Hills dipper has been declining severely and is now in danger of extinction. Isolated from populations of the wide-ranging American dipper by 200 miles of grasslands, the Black Hills population is geographically distinct. Today, nesting dippers are absent from nearly 86% of their historical range in the Black Hills as a result of stream pollution, streamside habitat degradation, and reduced stream flows. Spearfish Creek is now the only stream capable of sustaining dippers, and a major event (fire, flood, etc.) in that drainage could wipe out this unique dipper population.
Natural History
Also called the water ouzel, the Black Hills dipper is a small, dark gray songbird that inhabits mountain streams of western North America. Dippers are known for their odd dipping behavior; perched on their long legs, they bob their entire body up and down. The dipper has been described as the only true aquatic songbird and has a special inner eyelid (called a nictitating membrane) that allows it to see underwater. Dippers can also close their nostrils underwater, another unique adaptation which gives this species an amazing ability to live and feed in the rapids and cascades of cool streams in the mountains of western North America. The dipper feeds exclusively underwater by swimming and walking along the stream bottom, preying upon aquatic insects like mayflies. Because of its unique feeding habits and riverside nesting preferences, the Black Hills dipper depends upon permanent, clean, cold, and swift streams that run year-round. The Black Hills dipper is an indicator species — that is, healthy dipper populations signal good water quality and healthy streamside habitat.
Conservation Status
-No formal federal protection
-South Dakota Threatened Species
Action Taken
Center for Native Ecosystems and other conservation groups requested that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service emergency list the Black Hills dipper as a distinct population segment of the American dipper under the Endangered Species Act, a petition the Service subsequently denied. We continue to monitor threats in the dipper’s habitat to protect this unique songbird.
Read More
Black Hills Dipper Fact Sheet
Petition to List Black Hills Dipper as Endangered or Threatened
US Fish & Wildlife Service Preliminary Finding on Black Hills Dipper
