rectrix

American  

[rek-triks] / ˈrɛk trɪks /

noun

Ornithology.

plural

rectrices

1. one of the tail feathers of a bird controlling direction during flight.

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rectrix British  

/ rɛkˈtrɪʃəl, ˈrɛktrɪks /

noun

1. any of the large stiff feathers of a bird's tail, used in controlling the direction of flight

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Other Word Forms

• rectricial adjective

Etymology

Origin of rectrix

1605–15; < Latin rēctrīx, feminine of rēctor rector

Example Sentences

Length of erupted portion of "average" rectrix 17.0 ......

From The Postnatal Development of Two Broods of Great Horned Owls Bubo virginianus by Hoffmeister, Donald F.

The exterior rectrix is entirely black; the second has a clear brown stripe on the inside border.

From Argentine Ornithology, Volume II (of 2) A descriptive catalogue of the birds of the Argentine Republic. by Hudson, W. H. (William Henry)

The outermost rectrix of No. 31633 is wholly white; the second rectrix is nearly as white.

From Birds from Coahuila, Mexico by Urban, Emil K.

Representatives of P. c. amoenissima have black at the base of the inner web of the outermost rectrix more extended, usually showing beyond the tip of the under tail coverts.

From Birds from Coahuila, Mexico by Urban, Emil K.

On 2nd September the left central rectrix was almost at the end of its growth, the right had ceased to grow a little before.

From Hormones and Heredity by Cunningham, J. T.