The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word OUSEL
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
O
U
S
E
L
More clues leading to the result OUSEL
- Bird of river and lake
- Bird trapped by enormous elephant
- Resort to stuffing oddly oily bird
- No-good lake bird
- Some Navajo use little dipper
- Flier offering employment in role essentially
- Insect beginning to go right down in bird
- Bird left on far side of river
- Dipper supposedly seen in river and lake
- Floating on lake is river bird
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "bird" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case bird = ousel.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 OUSEL mean?
OUSEL noun- The Eurasian blackbird, Turdus merula.
- The water ouzel, an aquatic perching bird, Cinclus mexicanus.