Bird bones and bare dirt scattered alongside river (5,9)
I believe the answer is:
robin redbreast
'bird' is the definition.
(robin redbreast is a kind of bird)
'bones and bare dirt scattered alongside river' is the wordplay.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'scattered alongside' indicates an anagram.
'river' becomes 'r' (abbreviation for river).
'bones'+'bare'+'dirt'='bonesbaredirt'
'bonesbaredirt' anagrammed with 'r' can make 'ROBIN REDBREAST'.
(Other definitions for robin redbreast that I've seen before include "Songbird" , "bird" .)