Learn Italian: Avere le ali è un bel dono magico. - Having wings is a beautiful magical gift.

In Italian, when a verb acts as the subject of a sentence, you must use the infinitive form (avere), not the gerund (avendo). English often uses "-ing" words for this, but Italian sticks to the infinitive.

Why is the plural of the feminine noun "ala" (wing) "ali" instead of "ale"?

Most feminine Italian nouns ending in -a change to -e in the plural, but ala is a notable exception. Its plural is always le ali.

Why is it "bel dono" instead of "bello dono"?

The adjective bello changes its ending before a noun, following the exact same rules as the definite articles. Since dono takes the article il, bello shortens to bel.

Since this lesson is about expressing unfulfilled wishes, how would I say "If only I had wings!"?

You would use magari followed by the imperfect subjunctive of avere. The sentence would be: Magari avessi le ali! This perfectly expresses an impossible or unfulfilled wish using the current lesson's grammar.