Bird’s role on raised strip of land (9)
I believe the answer is:
partridge
'bird's' is the definition.
(partridge is a kind of bird)
'role on raised strip of land' is the wordplay.
'role' becomes 'part' (eg a part or role in a film).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'raised strip of land' becomes 'ridge' (ridge can mean a strip of land).
'part'+'ridge'='PARTRIDGE'
(Other definitions for partridge that I've seen before include "early Christmas present" , "Flier" , "Flighty type" , "Game bird (in a pear tree?)" , "Animal" .)