Swainson's Hawk in flight (Buteo swainsoni)

Hi there Jon,
Your bird is a juvenile Swainsons Hawk. Those dark patches on the sides of the upper breast that conects with the dark spotting of the breast (in this case, some have very little breast marking) Also notice that it lacks Red-taileds dark "patagial" mark at the leading edge of the arm (close to the body) What really catches the eye is the narrow pointed "hand" (we dont see the tip in your image) which in juveniles gives 4 spreading primaries against a broader "hand" in Red-Tailed with 5 spreading primaries, if you put it like that. Have a look at these:
http://www.virtualbirder.com/cgi-bin/vbirder-boilerPlate/BKWHIF?CONFIG_ID=r25&CONFIG_FILE=/vbirder/HAWK/gallery/bkwheeler/Gallery.dat&BAND=mid
http://www.virtualbirder.com/cgi-bin/vbirder-boilerPlate/BAAHIF?CONFIG_ID=r03&CONFIG_FILE=/vbirder/HAWK/gallery/amorris/Gallery.dat&BAND=mid
JanJ

I'm still convinced that this is an intermediate juvenile red-tail. We see both Swainson's and Red-tails in abundance here. Would anyone else care to cast a vote. I use "the Sibley Guide to Birds" as my reference. I noted that a Red-tail does have 5 spreading primaries, top of photo I think indicates that. Also transition from primary to underwing coverts lacks the distinctive black banding we see on the Swainson's Hawk. Again I wouls like to have others weigh in on this. Thanks for the input, hope to hear more.

I vote for the Swainson's ID. The main field mark missing for the Red-tailed is the dark mark on the underside leading edge of the wing.
John

Hi Jon,
take another look in Sibley, and notice the upper breast and throat pattern of Red-tailed and Swainsons. Its a pitty we dont get to see all of the primaries, and be able to note the different wing point of juv.SH, that is to say that p10 (the outermost) is aprox. equal in length to p5, p9 to p6 and p8 & p7 equal. And again, look how narrow the wings look, especially the pinched in hand, never seen to this extent in Red-tailed. A western Juvenile RH usually have a darker throat than SH.

http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/bio/birds/hawks/swha/swhact.jpg
JanJ

Swainson's hawk..... more tawny, the streaking is really intense and its so dark on either sides of its head.

I am bowing to the masses on this one. I will rename to the appropriate name. Thanks to all for your input.