During the afternoon of 25 November 2012, while driving northwest along Via Real in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County, California, I observed an immature hawk perched on a power line overhanging the road. It had a very distinctive face pattern, with a bold buffy-white throat, auricular, and supercillium contrasting with a dark brown malar, eyeline, and crown. The back and wings were dark brown, and the underparts were buffy white with distinct brown streaking throughout. Structurally, the hawk most resembled a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), appearing somewhat small and stocky but with a longer tail. I was able to approach on foot to within 30 yards and study the hawk more closely through 8 × 42 power binoculars, while also obtaining several photographs. Over the next half hour I continued my observation of the hawk as it foraged within ¼ mile of this area, crossing Highway 101 twice from Via Real to perch along Santa Claus Lane. During this observation I noted that the upper surface of the rectrices was brown with several dark bands. In contrast, the underside of the tail was light gray or buffy white with only a few indistinct brown bands. While the bird was perched the wingtips fell well short of the tail tip. The undertail coverts were white, and the tarsi and feet were orange-yellow. The bill was dark and hooked, set off from the face by a yellow cere. In flight, the underwing color matched the buffy-white color of the underparts but with only minimal, nearly indistinct dark streaking throughout. Its size, shape, foraging style (perch hunting), and tail length (shorter than in an Accipiter) made me confident in identifying this hawk to the genus Buteo.