JOHN KRICHER

Unlike photographing humans and many other mammal species, capturing a picture of a bird looking directly at a camera can be a challenging task. The eyes of most birds are less frontally located than those of most mammals, and wild birds are often far more active than mammals and less likely to pose for a camera. Therefore, this issue’s mystery photograph offers a notably unusual perspective, but there are nonetheless several useful identification features observable in the picture.

A first look at the photograph reveals what could be either conspicuous white eye rings or white eye crescents. Additionally, there are no stripes or other markings on the bird’s plain, off-whitish breast. When viewed in color on the Bird Observer website, the image has a greenish back and slightly dusky cheeks. The bill, even when viewed head-on, is clearly thin and pointed compared to the twigs where the bird is perched; this takes sparrows and other seed-eating species out of the picture. A first impression of the mystery bird, given its apparently small size, small bill, and likely prominent eye rings could suggest a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea). However, the bird’s obvious greenish—not blue—back color, no indication of a long slim tail, and the fact that the white eye markings are not actual eye rings make a gnatcatcher an unlikely possibility.