wing beat

noun

a complete cycle of moving the wing by a bird when flying

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Examples from the Web for wing beat

Historical Examples of wing beat

There is no need, here, to muffle the sound of the wing-beat.
Birds in Flight
W. P. Pycraft
But as the wing-beat increased in speed the lower loop gradually faded out.
Birds in Flight
W. P. Pycraft
There must be somewhat on which its wing-beat shall fall, stepping stones for its hurrying feet.
Among the Forces
Henry White Warren
But the first wing-beat of true love sends it far beyond such struggles.
The Hated Son
Honore de Balzac
The first wing-beat hurled Professor Ravenden headlong with a broken collar-bone.
The Flying Death
Samuel Hopkins Adams