Grey-Brown With White Spots Darwin's Rhea

About the Grey-Brown With White Spots Darwin's Rhea

The only plumage of Darwin's (Lesser) Rhea: an even grey-brown ground broken by scattered white spots, created by white-tipped body feathers that give a speckled, frosted look across the back and flanks. Hens are duller with smaller, sparser spotting than cocks, and chicks hatch browner with the white spots absent. The smaller of the two rheas, this hardy Patagonian and high-Andean ratite has proportionally large wings for fast running, and as with all rheas the male builds the nest, incubates and rears the cream-egg clutch.