# Greater rhea (*Rhea americana*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-rhea  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The greater rhea (Rhea americana), also called the common rhea, is a bird in the family Rheidae and the order Rheiformes. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial, sedentary omnivore of grassland, with an adult body mass of 23 kg and a highest reported value of 23.75 kg. Eggs are incubated for 37 days, with one clutch per year of 23.7 eggs, and sexual maturity comes at 2.5 years. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Near Threatened, which is not a threatened category, and its geographic range covers 6,538,000 km².

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 23 kg – 23.8 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 50 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | grassland |
| Egg incubation | 37 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 19.7 – 23.7 |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Near Threatened (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Rheiformes
- family: Rheidae
- genus: Rhea
- species: *Rhea americana* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Rhea macrorhyncha*, *Rhea nandu*, *Rhea nandua*, *Struthio americanus*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the greater rhea?

The greater rhea is a bird in the family Rheidae, order Rheiformes. It is terrestrial and sedentary.

### How heavy is a greater rhea?

An adult greater rhea weighs 23 kg, with a highest reported value of 23.75 kg. This places it in the medium size class.

### What does the greater rhea eat?

The greater rhea is an omnivore.

### Where does the greater rhea live?

The greater rhea lives in grassland. Its geographic range covers 6,538,000 km².

### Is the greater rhea endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Near Threatened, which is not a threatened category.

### How many eggs does a greater rhea have?

A greater rhea clutch holds 23.7 eggs, with one clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 37 days.

### Who named the greater rhea?

The greater rhea, Rhea americana, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Greater rhea (Rhea americana). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-rhea