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

Etymology

Origin of rectrix

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rectrix rectrices

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

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

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

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

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

The tertiaries and rectrices are tipped with pale rufous grey.

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

For birds undergoing postnuptial or postjuvenal molt, the degree of advancement of the molt is indicated by the numbers of primaries and rectrices that are new or partly ensheathed.

From Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula by Erwin E. Klaas

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

The central rectrices continued to grow till the beginning of September 1903, when that of the left side was 3 feet 6 inches long, that of the right about an inch shorter.

From Hormones and Heredity by J. T. Cunningham

We should remark, perhaps, that the woodpecker’s tail is always composed of twelve feathers—ten pointed rectrices and two tiny abortive feathers so short and so hidden that no attention is paid to them.

From The Woodpeckers by Fannie Hardy Eckstorm