The three dipper chicks are growing quickly, and the parents have a full-time job feeding them. Their nest is above the creek, and one or the other parent flies in every five to ten minutes with something they have caught in the fast-moving waters below. (It is not possible to tell the two parents apart, but both are feeding the chicks.)
A parent feeds the dipper chicks a mouth full of grubs from the creek below. Each time a parent arrives, the chicks stick their heads out and open their maws to accept the food.
On one occasion, an unusual bit of food brought to the chicks was a minnow.
The chicks kept their maws open, but they some-what withdrew when a minnow was offered.
Strangely, the dipper chicks did not accept the minnow, and the parent quickly flew off with it, This is odd, because dippers have caught and eaten minnows before.
Why did the dipper chicks reject the fish? I have seen dippers catch a fish maybe a half-dozen times. I have even seen a dipper bring a fish to its chicks before. I include one old picture of a dipper with a fish, to show that dippers are familiar with this as food. This dipper clipped the fish’s caudal fin (tail) so it could not escape.
Persistent fishers those Dippers!! Great photos…thanks!
My favourite bird, Alistair! And where is this nest or what kind is it? I am used to seeing them nest under bridges and waterfalls, so this is unfamiliar!
Amazing close up! Maybe dipper chicks are like my cat! There’s a family on the upper Little Slocan; I once saw the chicks going for a stroll with mom. I’ve also seen the adults fishing in winter, even disappearing under the ice. And lest we forget, they’re a wonderful song bird. It’s often the song that alerts us to their presence.