BROWN CREEPER, COLONEL SAMUEL SMITH PARK, TORONTO, ON

   Even though we can't see the front and face of this bird, we can identify it as a Brown Creeper as follows:

• Tiny size.
• Its habit of creeping up the trunk with its tail braced against the surface.  You can see this in the first photo.
• Slender bill.  You can make out the bill in the second photo.  Even though the bill is decurved, you can't see this in the photo because of the view from the back.
• Dark brown and white streaks on the upperparts.  This allows the Brown Creeper to easily blend in with the bark.
• Spine-tipped tail.  You can really see this in the first photo.
•  Single whitish wing-bar.  You can see this in the first photo.
• In the first photo you can make out some of the white flanks of the creeper, which is consistent with the underparts being white.

   The Brown Creeper is a new species to our Life List, which now stands at 282.