Food
Aquatic insects and their larvae, including dragonfly nymphs and caddisfly larvae. Also small fish and tadpoles.
Voice
A loud, sharp 'bzeet', uttered when flushed. On landing may utter a fast series of these notes. Song is a long series of repeated, varied, thrasher-like phrases. Ventriloqual.
American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) [XC368597]
by Thomas Magarian from Little Belt Mountains, Dry Wolf Creek area, Judith Basin County, Montana, United States (call)
American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) [XC216642]
by Thomas Magarian from Morrison, Jefferson County, Colorado, United States (song)
Nest
Dome-shaped, with a side entrance, located close to water, on a rock ledge, river bank, behind a waterfall or under a bridge.
Subspecies
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
mexicanus Swainson, 1827 - Northern and central Mexico (Pacific slope from northern Chihuahua south to Michoacán, México and western Puebla).
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unicolor Bonaparte, 1827 - Alaska (including Aleutian Is) and western Canada south in western USA to California and New Mexico.
dickermani Phillips, AR, 1966 - Southern Mexico on Pacific slope (southern Guerrero, southern Oaxaca) and Atlantic slope (borth-eastern Puebla, central Veracruz).
anthonyi Griscom, 1930 - South-eastern Mexico (eastern Chiapas), south-western Guatemala, north-eastern and south-eastern Honduras and north-western Nicaragua.
ardesiacus Salvin, 1867 - Costa Rica (entire Caribbean slope, and Pacific slope of Cordillera de Talamanca and Cordillera Central) and western Panama (Pacific slope in Chiriqui and Veraguas).