vibrissa(n = noun.animal) sensory hair, whisker - a long stiff hair growing from the snout or brow of most mammals as e.g. a cat;
is a kind of hair

1.  One of the specialized or tactile hairs which grow about the nostrils, or on other parts of the face, in many animals, as the so-called whiskers of the cat, and the hairs of the nostrils of man. [1913 Webster]

2.  The bristlelike feathers near the mouth of many birds. [1913 Webster]