false primary

false primary

English

Noun

false primary (plural false primaries)

1. (ornithology, rare) Any flight feather that appears between the primaries and secondaries on a bird's wing.
   • 1875, Charles Robert Bree, A History of the Birds of Europe:

     The false primary about one third the length of the first, which is shorter than the fourth.

   • 1905, The Emu: Official Organ of the Australasian Ornithologists' Union - Volumes 4-5:

     These Owls, in conjunction with some other species of their kind, have a marked peculiarity—i.e., the outer barbs of the first true primary and of the first false primary feathers have no barbules.

   • 1958, T.H.White, The Once and Future King:

     A web of skin grew from his wrists to his shoulders, while his primary feathers burst out in soft quills from the end of his fingers and quickly grew. His secondaries sprouted along his forearm, and a charming little false primary sprang from the end of each thumb.

Usage notes

The use of "false primary" is rare in recent texts, where the term axial is used instead.