Red Tail Hawks are the most common of all hawks. I remember reading somewhere -- can't quote the source though -- that 90% of the hawks you see (and maybe it was limited to the Northwest) were Red Tails. Here in Arizona, I suspect the percentage is quite different, since we also have the Black Hawk, Harris Hawk, Gray Hawk, and Zone Tailed Hawk which are not found outside the extreme Southwest. When sitting, the Red Tail is harder to distinguish because of the many subspecies (Western, Southwestern, Eastern, Krider's, Harlans's) and color variations (light adult and dark adult). However, in flight the tail is definitively reddish orange (except for the juveniles) making identification easier. The Red Tail Hawk usually perches on telephone poles searching for small animals. It will also fly like a "kite" in search of food. The first photo is a Red Tail Hawk taken at Mahleur National Wildlife Refuge in Central Oregon:
The next Red Tail photo is taken in the Galiuro Mountains of Arizona. He is sitting on a Century Plant that has just bloomed:
The next Red Tail Photo is taken at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge in Northcentral California, just along the Oregon border:
And, the last Red Tail Hawk photo was taken on a back road in Central Oregon:
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