rectrix

American  

[rek-triks] / ˈrɛk trɪks /

noun

Ornithology.

• rectrices
  plural

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

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rectrix British  

/ 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

Derived Forms

• rectricial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• rectrices
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of rectrix

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rectrix rectrices

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 W. H. (William Henry) Hudson

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

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

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 Emil K. Urban

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 J. T. Cunningham

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

From Birds from Coahuila, Mexico by Emil K. Urban

The tail length, however, is measured from the base of the uropygium to the tip of the longest pair of rectrices.

From The Subspecies of the Mountain Chickadee by Joseph Grinnell

The tail-coverts are unusually long, those below as long as the longest rectrices, and projecting in the fork of the tail.

From Descriptions of Three New Birds from the Belgian Congo Bulletin of the AMNH , Vol. XXXIV, Art. XVI, pp. 509-513, Oct. 20th, 1915 by James Chapin

A bird does not row with his tail—he steers with it, as if it were a rudder; and the long feathers are therefore called rudder-feathers—or rectrices, which is Latin for rudders.

From Citizen Bird Scenes from Bird-Life in Plain English for Beginners by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

Caudal vertebrae more than thirteen, without a pygostyle, but with about twelve pairs of rectrices.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various

Description.—Above grey; lesser wing-coverts and scapulars black; tail white, two central rectrices grey: beneath white; bill black; feet yellow; claws yellow: whole length 14·5 inches, wing 11·0, tail 7·0.

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

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