rectrices

They will also drag their rectrices along the ground, wearing the tips off and creating a distinctive 'shuff-shuff' noise.

Archive 2006-06-01 Darren Naish 2006

The distal parts of the wings and legs get dropped intact and undamaged, as do remiges and rectrices.

Archive 2006-06-01 Darren Naish 2006

The politically (and anatomically) correct term is pygostyle -- literally rump post -- for the structure of fused vertebra that anchors the turkey's magnificent tail feathers (rectrices) and also harbors the uropygial gland, source of preen oil, the yummy fat the bird uses to groom its plumage.

Cold Turkey 2007

On the remiges the markings are quite regularly hexagonal in shape; and on the upper coverts of the tail and on the rectrices they are accompanied with numerous ferruginous blotches, some of which are irregularly scattered over the whole surface of the vane, while others, marked in the center with a blackish spot, are disposed in series along the shaft and resemble ocelli.

Scientific American Supplement, No. 360, November 25, 1882 Various

Argus of Borneo, excessively elongated secondaries; and its tail is not formed of normal rectrices, from the middle of which spring two very long feathers, a little curved and arranged like a roof; but it consists of twelve wide plane feathers, regularly tapering, and ornamented with ocellated spots, arranged along the shaft.

Scientific American Supplement, No. 360, November 25, 1882 Various

This similitude of marking between the rectrices and subcaudals renders the distinction between these two kinds of feathers less sharp than in many other Gallinaceans, and the more so in that two median rectrices are considerably elongated and assume exactly the aspect of tail feathers.

Scientific American Supplement, No. 360, November 25, 1882 Various

No. 31634, the first record of this species in Coahuila, has pale gray interspaces on the rectrices of its tail that are definitely wider than the three black bands, indicating affinity with _bendirei_ (Friedmann, 1950: 702).

Birds from Coahuila, Mexico Emil K. Urban

In cock A only four of the short outer rectrices were moulted in the beginning of September 1902: the longer feathers -- namely, central rectrices and tail coverts -- which ceased to grow naturally in the spring of 1902, were not moulted till the beginning of October.

Hormones and Heredity J. T. Cunningham 1897

In cock A growth continued till the end of the following March, when the longest feathers, the central rectrices, 2 feet 4-1/2 inches long.

Hormones and Heredity J. T. Cunningham 1897

The feathers in the tail were seven pairs of rectrices, two rows of tail coverts, anterior and posterior, four or five pairs in each row, a number of transition feathers: all these were steel-blue, almost black; in front of them on the saddle were a number of reddish yellow, very slender saddle hackles.

Hormones and Heredity J. T. Cunningham 1897