Bad gale buffeted the French flier (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
bald eagle
'flier' is the definition.
(bald eagle is a kind of birdanimal)
'bad gale buffeted the french' is the wordplay.
'buffeted' indicates an anagram.
'the french' becomes 'le'.
'bad'+'gale'='badgale'
'badgale' is an anagram of 'baldeag'.
'baldeag'+'le'='BALD EAGLE'
(Other definitions for bald eagle that I've seen before include "US national bird" , "National emblem of the USA" , "National bird of the USA" , "Flier" , "N. American bird" .)