Crossword Genius

Bird landed and let out cry, shaking head (6,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

little owl

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

'bird' is the definition.
(little owl is a kind of bird)

'landed and let out cry shaking head' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'landed' could be 'lit' (light or alight can mean to land) and 'lit' is present in the answer.
an anagram of 'let' is 'tle' which is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'owl' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for little owl that I've seen before include "inappropriate for this bird" , "Flyer" , "Small bird of prey" , "flier" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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