Ferruginous, Red-tailed, or ...

I saw this guy this morning in Colorado Springs. He was sitting on the ground and so unafraid that he let me get about 20 feet from him. He was so big I thought he might be a young eagle - his legs were heavily feathered like an eagles.

Some said he's a red-tail but I didn't see a red tail and being on the ground and letting me get close is not typical red-tail behavior. I think it's a Ferruginous Hawk but I'm not sure so I'm posting his photographs here. Someone tell me, definitively, what he is. Thanks.

Looks like a young Red-tailed hawk. Ferruginous hawks have a noticeable gape, and feathered tarsi-which aren't visible in these shots. Right now you're most common raptors out there are Red-tailed and Swainson's hawks.

Thanks for the input, Beekeeper. I'm pretty familiar with Red-tails and their behavior. In Oklahoma, where I live, they are thick. They are also high up in trees and on poles and don't want people around. Just parking your car on the side of the road will usually cause them to flee.

This hawk never looked like a Red-tail when I saw it and it's behavior was very uncharacteristic. It was sitting on the ground and let me get within about 20 feet of it. I have read that this behavior is common for the Ferruginous. He was so big and the legs so heavily feathered that I initially thought it was some kind of small eagle. I think the size pretty much eliminates the Swainson.

I'm posting an additional shot with a cleared view of the legs (the feet were covered by tall grass so can't be seen) which should give some indication of the feathers on the legs - again not too typical of the Red-tail I think. That bright yellow gape does concern me. I've searched for it at 100% on this bird. It's there but much more muted in color than most of the photos I've seen.

It's an immature Red-tailed hawk, and judging by how good the feathers look it was probably hatched this year. I have a hard time finding cooperative ones too.

Definitely a Red-tailed Hawk and a young one as Beekeeper stated.

Red-tailed Hawks are the most variable hawks we have. There are 4 different regional variations of these birds and most have light and dark morphs. There also tend to be intergrade individuals of the various regional variations were they overlap.

A Ferruginous Hawk would be much whiter underneath than this bird.

OK. I've seen some very large Red-tails before but this one was BIG. This one just seemed different because of it's behavior and the absence of the red in the tail. The heavily feathered legs threw me a bit too but I have seen photographs with and without that. Most of the ones I usually see do not have such "hairy" legs. He was fun anyway.