Crossword Genius

Absence felt as cherished mother wings away (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dearth

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'absence' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'felt as cherished mother wings away' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'cherished' could be 'dear' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'dear' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dearth that I've seen before include "poverty" , "Shortage, paucity" , "Red hat for scarcity" , "Acute shortage" , "Severe shortage" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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