The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 letter word MOA
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
M
O
A
More clues leading to the result MOA
- Bird once in trench, having lost tail
- Old lady eating duck, old bird
- Endless complaint from one unable to fly
- Large bird once seen among Jerusalem Oaks
- Bird unable to fly in ditch – time to get out of it
- Second area for extinct bird
- Bird no longer producing egg for mum to eat
- Duck nursed by parent bird once
- Grouse, not name for flightless bird
- Bird lost taking off close to ditch
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Bird unable to fly" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case bird unable to fly = moa.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does MOA mean?
MOA noun- Any of several species of large, extinct, flightless birds of the family Dinornithidae that were native to New Zealand; until its extinction, one species was the largest bird in the world.