The white-throated dipper cinclus cinclus subspecies in spain

Abstract

Based on variations in breast plumage colour, two subspecies of White-throated Dipper Cinclus cinclus have been acknowledged to exist in Spain: C. C. Cinclus in northwestern and central regions, and C. c. aquaticus in the eastern and southern regions. Within the White-throated Dipper’s Spanish range, 37 rivers were sampled between 2000 and 2007. Dippers with a brownish-red and dark brown breast plumage were both present within the same large areas and rivers. Moreover, because plumage colour changes individually with age, no clear-cut geographical distribution pattern was found. These observations suggest that breast colour cannot be used to distinguish White-throated Dipper subspecies in Spain. © 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.