The American dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), aka water ouzel, is North America's only truly aquatic songbird—the "hummingbird of blooming waters" as Muir wrote

Dippers flit about rocky streams, diving and swimming through the currents to feed on aquatic larvae and tiny tadpoles/fish

American dippers are named for their habit of rhythmically bobbing when perched

But why do they dip?

Theories incl: blending in w/ turbulent water as camouflage; enhanced scoping of underwater prey; visual communication in noisy

Cornell Lab describes the dipper's burbling song as "evocative of the rushing whitewater streams this species calls home in western North and Central

John Muir was enchanted by the American dipper/water ouzel and included a chapter about them in "The Mountains of California"
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