Greater rhea

Greater rhea
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Class:	Aves
Subclass:	Neornithes
Infraclass:	Palaeognathae
Order:	Struthioniformes
Family:	Rheidae
Genus:	Rhea
Binomial name
Rhea americana (Linnaeus, 1758) [2]

The greater rhea, Rhea americana, is a flightless bird found in South America. The greater rhea is also known as grey, common rhea, or the American rhea. The species, first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The greater rhea takes its scientific name from the Greek goddess Rhea and the Latin word for "America".

It has a length of 3–5 feet (0.91–1.52 m) and a wingspan of 5 feet (1.5 m). Weighing 50–55 pounds (23–25 kg), the greater rhea is the largest bird in South America.^[3]

1. ↑ "Rhea americana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
2. ↑ Blake, Emmet Reid (1977). Manual of Neotropical Birds: Spheniscidae (penguins) to Laridae (gulls and allies). University of Chicago Press. pp. 8–9. ISBN 0226056414.
3. ↑ "Greater Rhea". National Geographic. 11 April 2010. Retrieved July 26, 2011.