---
title: "Lesser Rhea"
description: "Rhea pennata — Birds. Darwin's rhea or the lesser rhea (Rhea pennata) is a large flightless bird, the smaller of the two extant species of rheas."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/lesser-rhea
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Lesser Rhea

> Rhea pennata — Birds. Darwin's rhea or the lesser rhea (Rhea pennata) is a large flightless bird, the smaller of the two extant species of rheas.

- Scientific name: *Rhea pennata*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Fields & meadows), `mountains` (Mountains)
- iNaturalist observations: 2181
- Wikidata: [Q733120](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q733120)
- iNaturalist taxon: [73338](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/73338)

## Names

- en: Lesser Rhea
- de: Darwin-Nandu
- es: Ñandú cordillerano
- fr: Nandou de Darwin
- it: Pterocnemia pennata
- nl: Darwins nandoe
- pt: Nandu-de-darwin
- pl: Nandu plamiste

## Countries with the most observations

AR (1057), CL (719), BO (158), PE (16)

## Summary

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.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin%27s_rhea

## Photo

![Lesser Rhea](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/lesser-rhea/medium.jpg)

Photo: Diego Carús · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/29389569

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/lesser-rhea?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).