Which aerodynamic effect is critically reduced when birds experience widespread feather mite infestation?

💡 Explanation

When a bird experiences feather mite infestation, mechanical integrity of the feathers become disrupted, causing a loss in airfoil shaping during flight. This substantially reduces lift coefficient because the wing profile is degraded. Therefore lift coefficient decreases rather than alula effectiveness increasing, BL remaining laminar or aspect ratio improving, all of which depend on proper feather structure.

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