Rhea
American Rhea, Rhea americana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Struthioniformes Family: Rheidae Bonaparte, 1849 Genus: Rhea Brisson, 1760
Species
R. americana R. pennata

The Rhea, also known as ñandú (pronounced [ɲanˈdu]) in Spanish, or ema in Portuguese, is a large flightless ratite bird native to South America. The name was given in 1752 by Paul Mohring; his reason for choosing this name, from the Rhea of classical mythology, is not known. Image File history File links Common_rhea. ... Binomial name Rhea americana (Linnaeus, 1758) The American Rhea (Rhea americana), also known as the Gray, Common, or Greater Rhea is not only the largest species of rhea but the largest American bird, with adults averaging 30 kilograms (66 lb). ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... “Aves” redirects here. ... Families Struthionidae Casuariidae Dinornithidae Apterygidae Rheidae A ratite is any of a diverse group of large, flightless birds of Gondwanian origin, most of them now extinct. ... Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte (May 24, 1803 – July 29, 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithologist. ... Mathurin Jacques Brisson (April 30, 1723 - June 23, 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... Binomial name Rhea americana (Linnaeus, 1758) The American Rhea (Rhea americana), also known as the Gray, Common, or Greater Rhea is not only the largest species of rhea but the largest American bird, with adults averaging 30 kilograms (66 lb). ... Binomial name Rhea pennata dOrbigny, 1834 Synonyms Pterocnemia pennata Darwins Rhea (Rhea pennata), also known as the Lesser Rhea, is the smaller of the two extant species of rhea at 90 to 100 centimeters (3 ft to 3 ft 4 in) tall, and has larger wings than other... Not to be confused with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Families Struthionidae (ostriches) Rheidae (rheas) Casuariidae (emus etc. ... “Aves” redirects here. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Paul Heinrich Gerhard Möhring ( July 21, 1710 - October 28, 1792) was a German physician, botanist and zoologist. ... Rhea (or Ria meaning she who flows) was the Titaness daughter of Uranus and of Gaia. ...

Rheas are polygamous, with males courting between two and twelve females. After mating, the male builds a nest, in which each female lays her eggs. The male incubates from ten to sixty eggs; the chicks hatch within 36 hours of each other. The females, meanwhile, may move on and mate with other males. While caring for the young, the males will charge at anyone — including humans and female rheas — who approaches the chicks.

Rheas are omnivorous, preferring broad-leafed plants, but also eating seeds, roots, fruit, insects, and small vertebrates. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Rheas have only three toes. This is an adaptation which allows them to run faster than if they had four.

Rhea farming

Head of a Rhea (detail)

Rhea are farmed in North America and Europe (as are the Emu and the Ostrich). While the main produce are meat and eggs, rhea oil is also used for cosmetics and soaps. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 428 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Rhea (bird) Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 428 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Rhea (bird) Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Binomial name Dromaius novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) The Emu has been recorded in the areas shown in black. ... Binomial name Struthio camelus Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 The present-day distribution of Ostriches. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Rhea (bird)

• Rhea videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• [1] privat homepage, Germany