RHEA

noun Etymology: New Latin, genus of birds, probably from Latin Rhea, mother of Zeus, from Greek Date: 1797 either of two South American ratite birds ( Rhea americana and Pterocnemia pennata of the family Rheidae) that resemble but are smaller than the African ostrich and that have three toes, a fully feathered head and neck, an undeveloped tail, and pale gray to brownish feathers that droop over the rump and back