Description
Rheas are large, flightless birds with gray-brown plumage, long legs and long necks, similar to an ostrich. Large males of R. americana can reach 1.70 metres (5.6 ft), and weigh up to 40 kilograms (88 lb), and their back can be 100 centimetres (39 in) tall. The Lesser Rhea is somewhat smaller as their back is only 90 centimetres (35 in) tall. Their wings are large for a flightless bird (250 centimetres (8.2 ft)) and are spread while running, to act like sails. Unlike most birds, rheas have only three toes. Their tarsus has 18 to 22 horizontal plates on the front of it. They also store urine separately in an expansion of the cloaca.
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)