bastard wing
- noun
- /ˈbæstərd wɪŋ/
- Specialized
:
alula
- An aerodynamic feature of many modern birds, the alula, also called the bastard wing, allows birds to fly without stalling.
Examples
-
" Immediately recognizable as the bastard wing, or alula, this feature is a characteristic of many modern birds but had never before been encountered in a fossil bird from the Mesozoic.
Academic text (1998) -
The bastard wing functions like the wing flap on an airplane.
Academic text (1998) -
The bastard wing then comes to the rescue.
Academic text (1998) -
The alula, or bastard wing, enables birds to perform sharp turns in flight.
-
Many birds rely on their bastard wing to maintain lift at low speeds.
-
The falcon's bastard wing helps it maneuver swiftly while hunting.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A small group of short stiff feathers on the front edge of a bird's wing that help control flight
A small group of stiff feathers on a bird's thumb that helps control flight
Surface Forms
Morphology
The modern meanings of 'bastard' (illegitimate, impure, hybrid) plus 'wing' do not transparently yield the specific anatomical sense 'small stiff tuft (alula)'; this is a specialist/archaic ornithological term whose link to the constituents is historical and non‑obvious. A B1 learner who knows the words would not reliably infer the technical meaning, so it is unpredictable and idiomatic in this context.
Etymology
Bastard wing may come from people who saw a small extra wing near a bird's thumb and called it a bastard or 'false' wing. So, bastard wing now means the little, stiff tuft of feathers on the bird's thumb that helps birds control their flight.