The European Ring Ouzel and American Water Ouzel
European Ring Ouzel, male
Photo Credit – Birdfact
European Ring Ouzel, female
Photo Credit – Flickr
The Ring Ouzel, a member of the Thrush family, is only seen if visiting or living in Europe. There is no reference to the appearance of vagrants in the Americas. I recorded the Ring Ouzel as a moderately rare bird during my teenage birding trips to the east coast of Yorkshire, England, during the 1960s. Ring Ouzels move north in springtime, and many breed in Scandinavia. They nest in the highlands of northern England, Wales and Scotland, choosing steep rocky hillsides and gullies.
Ring Ouzel UK Distribution
Photo Credit – RSPB. Yellow = summer; red = migration
The population of Ring Ouzels in the UK has declined by 50 percent in the last 25 years. The causes are habitat loss and climate change. Environmental modifications to their winter grounds, which include southern Europe, the mountains of northwest Africa, and Turkey, may also affect their numbers. Also, a few now remain in the UK during winter. The species, therefore, is on the UK’s Red List for conservation purposes. The global population of up to two million birds is not a conservation concern. Three subspecies exist: one found around the Caucasus that winters in Iran, an “alpine” subspecies in the mountain ranges of Iberia and present across central Europe, and the “northern” subspecies, the one I observed.
European Ring Ouzel Global Distribution; three subspecies
Photo Credit – Animalia Bio
The bird is a little smaller and thinner than a Eurasian Blackbird. The adult male is unmistakable with its dull black plumage and broad white crescent (or bib) across its breast. The female is browner and has a narrower, creamier breast. Their diet consists of insects, earthworms, small amphibians and fruit. There is a typical lifespan of about two years, although some live up to nine years.
Eurasian Blackbird
Photo Credit – Madeira Birdwatching
The word “ouzel” comes from the Old English word for blackbird, and the “ring” refers to the male’s prominent white neck crescent. Today, “blackbird” describes a range of species where the male is primarily or entirely black. The Eurasian Blackbird is probably the most representative, and most certainly in Europe; last year, I was a member of a group of American tourists in Aveiro, Portugal, who stopped to stare up into a tree to watch a vigorously singing Eurasian Blackbird.
American Dipper (Water Ouzel)
Photo Credit – The Daily World
Although the Ring Ouzel bird has never crossed the Atlantic to North America, the word “ouzel” did. John Muir describes the Water Ouzel or Water Thrush as a “joyous and lovable little fellow” during his travels in the uplands of California during the late 1800s. The Water Ouzel (now called the American Dipper) is a seven-inch (18cm) plump, dark grey to black bird with some brown, typically found close to fast-moving, clear, cold water, pebbly streams and lakes. Its upper eyelids have narrow white feathers that flash as the bird blinks. The American Dipper appears in California near coastal streams and in the Sierras. It does not belong to the Thrush family but is classed in a small family of aquatic birds, with five species of closely related dippers distributed worldwide (one in North America, two in Eurasia, and two in Latin America).
Eurasian White-throated Dipper
Photo Credit – Birdfact
Their name comes from standing on rocks, repeatedly dipping and ducking, and sometimes immersing their head underwater as they prepare to catch their prey. They dive up to 20 feet (6 meters) and can walk along the stream’s bottom as they feed on aquatic insects, their larvae, tiny fish, and fish eggs. It is the only aquatic songbird in North America. It uses its stubby wings to stay underwater. While underwater, large oil glands keep their plumage waterproof, extra eyelids protect their eyes, nasal flaps cover their nostrils, and they take on extra oxygen in their blood.
American Dipper Range
Photo Credit – American Bird Conservancy
American Dippers typically build dome-shaped nests on cliff ledges, fallen logs, beneath bridges, and dirt banks, including sites behind waterfalls. Both parents construct the nest; the female incubates the eggs while the male collects food, returning it to the nest. They are permanent residents, with some moving to lower altitudes in winter. They range from northern Alaska, south along the Rockies, Cascades, and Sierra Nevada, and as far south as western Panama. The global breeding population is estimated at 160,000 individual birds, and numbers appear stable, although water pollution due to poor land management jeopardizes their food supply. The bird’s typical lifespan is seven years.
The Shakespeare character, Bottom, speaks of the “ousel cock, so black of hue with orange tawny bill” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, referring to the Eurasian Blackbird, and in Greek mythology, the ouzel was supposed to speak a human language. Dionysus, the God of wine, fertility, agriculture, madness and festivity, considered it sacred. It is a shame that the word “ouzel” is slowly disappearing from the English language.
