A few years ago when I was conducting a presentation skills workshop, a participant gave a short speech on the red-tailed hawk. He spoke of how often you see them along Midwest interstates perched on a post or low hanging branch during winter months, waiting for their prey in the thickets or heavy ground cover below.

I remember thinking, “I don’t remember ever seeing one along the highway. He must be stretching the truth a little.”  The next winter I began looking for them as I traveled.  He had mentioned that you had to look carefully because they are so still they might look like an extension of the post or branch they are sitting on. 

Guess what?  I began to see them along the highway. I travel I-74 West from Cincinnati to Indianapolis often, and I find that I average about two red-tailed hawks per hundred miles.

Now you will be noticing the red-tailed hawks because have been made aware of them and will be looking for them along the interstates. We pay attention to things we are looking for.