The Patagonian Choique
July 3rd, 2008 Posted in faunaWritten by Shanie
The Choique bird (or Lesser-Rhea in English) is an interesting creature. It resembles an ostrich, although it is smaller in stature, has brown coloring, small feathers along its skinny neck, and (interestingly enough) has three toes to its foot, instead of two. Another difference, is that its colorful cousin couldn’t handle the Patagonia weather. But the Choique can. It lives in the high Andean plains and vast Patagonian grassland.
Its round frame stuck on yellowish, toothpick legs is, on average, 37 inches tall. The coloring is very dull and basic with the brown feathers being highlighted with a tinge of white on the back end of the animal. The chest and abdomen area are drenched in white plumage.
It is a very social bird. Traveling in packs of 30 to 40, the Choique works together to protect their young. The males are known to have multiple partners during breeding season, putting all of the eggs in one basket (30 – 50 per nest). The male incubates the eggs for about 40 days. The young hang with their parents for up to three years.
Choique’s are not able to fly because of their minuscule wings. Instead, they can run up to 40 mph.
