White-throated dipper / Wasseramsel (Cinclus cinclus)

Wikipedia eBird Vogelwarte BirdLife ZH ornitho.ch bird-song.ch Xeno-Canto BirdID NABU

Wasseramsel am Wissbach bei der Grenze zwischen Appenzell-Ausserrhoden und St Gallen. 2024-04-27 10:10:00 NIKON D5600 ISO 2800
Exposure 0.002

Classification: Genus Cinclus; Family Cinclidae
I saw a bird in Meride, Ticino in October 2020 on a tree limb that showed three bands of strong colors that I recall as black, white and red-brown. Unfortunately I discovered that my camera battery was dead, so I can only rely on a very shaky memory. I've speculatively identified it as a White-throated Dipper (German Wasseramsel), which are present in that area, though are most expected at water (there's a river nearby though). At least I'll have this bird on my radar now.
Expected near rivers and streams.
Song: Song a mid tempo, staccato improvisation on contact call-like sounds. Not unlike a budgerigar. Both sexes sing, the female less melodic and more staccato than the male. [Link]
Calls: Contact call a short, metallic and explosive "zrreet", often betraying its presence perched among boulders or when flying up and down a stream. [Link]
Physical details: length=18 cm, wingspan=25-30 cm, weight=49-84 g
Habitats: Wetland

Song: Wonderfully weird sequence of chirps, cheeps, growls. Elements often repeated twice. In a quiz, I mistook it for a starling. This recording reminds me of other water songbirds like the Marsh warbler and various reed warblers.
Song attributes: Melody: improvised melodic, fast, Frequency: 1-7 KHz Special sounds: rasp, weird
Call: Chirp repeated 1-2s.

XC883371 - White-throated Dipper - Cinclus cinclus - squeaky, rhythmic call.

Call attributes: Call melody: one note, slow, Frequency: 4-7 KHz,
First documented observation: 2024-04-27 in Ticino. Most recent observation: 2024-04-30 in Jona.

Media


Wasseramsel in der Jona bei Wald ZH kurz bevor er ins Wasser getaucht ist (denke an den Englischen Namen Dipper). 2024-04-30 17:36:20 Jona NIKON D5600 ISO 800
Exposure 0.002


Song recorded in Bern from Xeno-Canto Wonderfully weird sequence of chirps, cheeps, growls with repeated elements.


Call recorded in Sweden from Xeno-Canto Sequence of monotone chirps. At XC it says wing flutter is also audible.

Additional Images


Die zwei Wasseramsel wieder. 2024-04-27 10:10:22 Schachen, Tobel Wissbach till Degersheim NIKON D5600 ISO 2500
Exposure 1/500

Wasseramsel sind wieder da. 2024-04-27 10:06:38 Schachen, Tobel Wissbach till Degersheim NIKON D5600 ISO 2800
Exposure 0.002

Allererste Ansicht eines Wasseramsels auf dem Ausflug, und erst meine Zweite seit vor 4 Jahren im Tessin. 2024-04-27 08:47:44 Ticino NIKON D5600 ISO 2000
Exposure 0.002

Wikipedia - Cinclus cinclus, Wasseramsel. Source: WIKIPEDIA Wikipedia - Cinclus_cinclus, Wasseramsel.jpg Canon EOS 7D Shutter speed 8
ISO 500
Exposure 1/250

Web pages with this species:

Spring in Switzerland, 2024 / Birding excursion in Appenzell/St. Gallen with Tom Bischof, April 2024