Darwin's rhea
Rhea pennata d'Orbigny, 1834
The darwin's rhea (Rhea pennata) is a species in the family Rheidae, order Rheiformes. Recorded adults weigh 20 kg to 23.9 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the darwin's rhea
- Weight
- 20 kg – 23.9 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 38.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 16.7 – 17.3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the darwin's rhea live?
Not recorded
What is the darwin's rhea?
Darwin's rhea or the lesser rhea (Rhea pennata) is a large flightless bird, the smaller of the two extant species of rheas. It is found in the Altiplano and Patagonia in South America.
From the Wikipedia article “Darwin's rhea” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Darwin%27s_rhea&oldid=1382762417), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the darwin's rhea endangered?
The darwin's rhea is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the darwin's rhea classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderRheiformes
- familyRheidae
- genusRhea
- SpeciesRhea pennata d'Orbigny, 1834
Synonyms Pterocnemia pennata, Pterocnemia pennata, Pterocnemis pennata, Pteroicnemia pennata, Rhea pennata, Rhea pennata pennata, Rhea pennata pennata
Other names and names in other languages (35)
- Lesser rheaEnglish
- Lesser rheaEnglish
- Lesser rheaEnglish
- ñandú pequeñuAsturian
- Малко нандуBulgarian
- nyandú de DarwinCatalan
- nandu menšíCzech
- rhea bachWelsh
- Lille NanduDanish
- DarwinnanduGerman
- eta reaoEsperanto
- Ñandú petisoSpanish
- Avestruz de MagallanesSpanish
- Ñandú CordilleranoSpanish
- Ñandú PetizoSpanish
- väikenanduEstonian
- patagoniannanduFinnish
- Nandou de DarwinFrench
- Darwin-nanduHungarian
- Nandù minoreItalian
- ダーウィンレアJapanese
- Darvino nanduLithuanian
- Darwins NandoeDutch
- fjellnanduNorwegian
- nandu plamistePolish
- ema-pequenaPortuguese
- nandu-pequenoPortuguese
- Дарвинов нандуRussian
- nandu škvrnitýSlovak
- Mali nanduSerbian
- mindre nanduSwedish
- Benekli ReaTurkish
- нанду малийUkrainian
- 小美洲鴕Chinese
- 小美洲鸵Chinese
Relatives of the darwin's rhea
Other species in the same genus Rhea.
Greater rhea
Rhea americana
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the darwin's rhea?
An adult darwin's rhea weighs 20 kg – 23.9 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the darwin's rhea endangered?
The darwin's rhea is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the darwin's rhea?
The darwin's rhea (Rhea pennata) belongs to the family Rheidae in the order Rheiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Darwin's rhea (Rhea pennata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/darwin-s-rhea
“Darwin's rhea (Rhea pennata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/darwin-s-rhea.
@misc{darwin_s_rhea_2026,
title = {Darwin's rhea (Rhea pennata)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/darwin-s-rhea},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}