It’s so dippie there’s a dipper!
We’ve now spent three more days in the field since the last update, and things are starting to come together in a big way. Day One: “This Looks Dippie…” Our second full day out felt like a reminder of why field instincts matter. As we drove into the canyon, we stopped almost immediately because the…
From the Black Hills to the Bighorns
The population of American dippers in the Black Hills is a species of greatest conservation need in South Dakota, and my research is focused on understanding how we can better support them. Based on relative abundance data from eBird, dippers in the Bighorns seem to be thriving. This makes them an especially valuable comparison population,…
A Record return: 10-year old American dipper in the Black Hills!
It’s been a while since my last update here on The Dipper Diaries. Fieldwork has kept us constantly on the move, but I’m excited to finally share some fantastic news from the streams of the Black Hills. This spring has already been one for the books. We observed our first nestlings on April 6, ten…
Here we go again!
It’s been a quiet few months here on The Dipper Diaries—at least on the writing side. Out in the field, though, we’ve been anything but idle. Once our American dippers wrapped up their 2025 breeding season, we rolled right into fall maintenance mode: cleaning out every nest box and replacing the boxes that weren’t looking…
The dipper who started it all
Today feels like the perfect day to talk about my favorite ‘gossip bird’. To be fair, she wasn’t doing anything all that unusual for a dipper – but it sure makes for a good story! A quick note for anyone unfamiliar: each dipper gets a unique color combination so we can identify individuals through binoculars…
She’s a survivor!
By: Jessica L Graham Today’s update is about a female we banded last summer (2024) – I am very excited to report that she survived the winter! Just a heads-up: this post includes some close-up photos of bird toes that might be a little graphic for some. Feel free to skip those if you’re squeamish.…