fledge

 
Pronunciation: /flɛdʒ/

verb

[no object]
  • (of a young bird) develop wing feathers that are large enough for flight: the young fledge around four weeks after hatching
  • [with object] bring up (a young bird) until its wing feathers are developed enough for flight: they fledged twenty-four chicks in fourteen months

Origin:

mid 16th century: from the obsolete adjective fledge 'ready to fly', from Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vlug 'quick, agile', also to fly1