Feel feathers could be alight (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
touch down
'be alight' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'feel feathers' is the wordplay.
'feel' becomes 'touch' (touch is a kind of feel).
'feathers' becomes 'down' (down can mean bird feathers).
'touch'+'down'='TOUCH-DOWN'
'could' is the link.
(Other definitions for touch down that I've seen before include "Reach end of flight" , "Land" .)