Males are typically larger than the females. The greater rhea is found in southeastern South America, including Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina, where it lives in grassland and semiarid scrubland. During the breeding season, rheas stay near rivers, lakes or marshes. They occur on upland and lowland plains in most parts of South America.
Rheas are omnivorous, preferring broad-leafed plants and clover. However, they eat a variety of seeds, roots, fruits, insects and small vertebrates, such as lizards, frogs, small birds and snakes.
Rheas continuously move as they feed. Their breeding season is from August to January, depending on the region. Males develop a dark collar at the base of their neck during the breeding season.
They call females with a booming call and court two to 12 females with an impressive wing display. Once mating has occurred, the males build nests, which are shallow depressions in the ground. Each of the females lay up to five gold- colored eggs in the male's nest over a period of seven to 10 days. They can lay up to 60 eggs total. The male incubates the eggs for about six weeks and cares for the chicks alone.
When male rheas are taking care of their young, they will charge at any creature that comes too close to them, including female rheas and humans. The rhea population has suffered through hunting and habitat loss, although it is still relatively abundant. Like their ostrich and emu cousins, these birds have long necks and long legs. Even though they cannot fly with them, they still have a wingspan approximately 8 ft. Even though nearly everyone knows what an ostrich or an emu is, few people even know Rheas exist!
Though they are less popular than their distant relatives, these birds are incredibly interesting creatures. Because they rely on their strong legs to move them quickly, Rheas live primarily in open areas. Some of their favorite habitats are open grasslands, plains, steppes, savannas, and open woodlands with sparse tree cover.
They also inhabit marshes and areas in close proximity to lakes, streams, and rivers. Some scientists have even spotted them swimming across bodies of water to get from place to place. The two different species of Rheas have different distributions.
Their ranges do overlap slightly in some areas, including parts of Argentina and Chile. These birds live primarily in the flat regions to the east of the Andes Mountain range. Greaters live farther north, from eastern Brazil through central Argentina.
Lessers range primarily through southern Argentina, though one population lives on the western coast of the Andes Mountains in Chile. These birds are primarily herbivorous, and the vast majority of their diet comes from plant matter.
However, both species do sometimes feed on insects, invertebrates, and small animals on occasion. Researchers have seen Rheas eat snakes , small birds, fish, and other small creatures. The bulk of their diet comes from fruits, leaves, roots, berries, seeds, grasses, and grains. To help digest their food, they swallow small stones and pebbles, which they store in their gizzard and use to grind up their food before digestion. Humans hunt these wild birds for their meat, feathers, and skin, which people use to make leather.
In addition to wild Rheas, people raise these birds on farms for this purpose as well. Near threatened. Least Concern Extinct. Current Population Trend: Decreasing. This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our photo community on Instagram. Follow us on Instagram at natgeoyourshot or visit us at natgeo.
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