Singer may not always be the same when losing voice at the start (6)
I believe the answer is:
canary
'singer' is the definition.
(canary is a kind of birdanimal)
'not always be the same when losing voice at the start' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'not' could be 'nary' (I've seen this before) and 'nary' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ca' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'may' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for canary that I've seen before include "Popular cage bird, often yellow" , "- Wharf, - yellow" , "Yellow bird, formerly taken down mines" , "Bright yellow finch" , "Kind of yellow" .)