Mistaken identity

Hutton's Vireo (Vireo huttoni)

As are vireos, this bird is an active forager in mixed oak-evergreen woodlands.  This is a year-round resident species throughout its range.

It's range, on a continental-scale, is limited; the West Coast and portions of the southwestern United States.
As such, it can be and is sometimes mistaken for the far more widespread Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) from birders and naturalist from other parts of the continent less familiar with this vireo.

Hutton's Vireo

In life, have you ever been mistaken by others about who, what and how you truly were? I certainly have been.

A variation on a Zen proverb is "... listen (*and look, too, in our case) twice, speak once."

Even the Common

The Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata) is the only member of the babbler family, Family Timaliidae, in North America.

Nevertheless, the wrentit is a common species of the coastal chaparral of the West Coast of the United States.  This skulker, with a peculiar long tail, and light-colored iris, are often detected by their "bouncing ball" vocalization.

A common species on the West Coast.

Wrentit

Even the common are part of the greater beauty.