The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word LAPWING
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
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More clues leading to the result LAPWING
- Softly land in trail for flier
- Wader: free paw poking fish
- Bird‘s circuit over part of mansion
- Course success good for high- flier
- Bird got in annexe after friend turned up
- Round rugby player, one tweeting regularly?
- Drink syrup, keeping last of confection for bird
- Linger, keeping quiet, and capture bird
- Friend rose on the football side – a real flier
- Paw frantically in heather for type of plover
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Wader" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case wader = lapwing.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 LAPWING mean?
LAPWING noun- Any of several medium-sized wading birds belonging to the subfamily Vanellinae within family Charadriidae.
- The tewit (Vanellus cristatus) (which is a type of lapwing in the first sense).
- A silly man.