This species is a permanent resident throughout most of Alaska. Juveniles and adults of both sexes are very similar. Although they have no webbing between their toes, dippers can swim across water by paddling with their legs and feet.
Dippers can dive and propel themselves under the water with swimming motions of their wings.
In shallow water, they walk along the bottom of streams by grasping stones with their elongated toes. These birds use their wings to help them stay submerged. Dippers are adapted to dive underwater. In addition, dippers are well insulated to withstand icy streams and Alaska winters. Their plumage is unusually dense, and they have a greater number of outer feathers covering their heads, necks, and bodies than do most other perching birds of similar size.