Counting Dippers to Gauge Animas River Health Artwork

Durango Local News

Durango, Colorado Local NEWS is part of Local NEWS Network (LNN), a unique platform to produce and distribute local NEWS programming in communities across the USA. Check us out on TV @ Durango Cable Channel 15 & Purgatory Cable Channel 3, online at www.durangolocal.news or on one of our 10 digital displays around town and at the airport. News Producer - Deborah Uroda, Executive Producer - Laurie Sigillito

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Durango Local News

Counting Dippers to Gauge Animas River Health

February 20, 2026 • LNN Durango, Colorado

0:00 | 4:12

Every February, volunteers walk the banks of the Animas River counting American dippers — small, bold birds that dive headfirst into rushing rapids and spend their entire lives along river corridors. Because dippers feed on the aquatic insects that can only survive in clean water, they serve as a living indicator of river health. The American Dipper Project launched in 2016 following the Gold King Mine spill, and citizen scientists have been tracking nesting behavior and success rates ever since, entering all data into Cornell Lab of Ornithology's NestWatch database. When nesting success declined after the 416 Fire in 2018 and subsequent flooding, the dippers reflected that environmental stress.

By Paige Sparks

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This story is sponsored by Durango Gelato, Coffee & Tea and The LOR Foundation

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