Brilliant time embracing very ordinary bird (6)
I believe the answer is:
avocet
'bird' is the definition.
(avocet is a kind of bird)
'brilliant time embracing very ordinary' is the wordplay.
'brilliant' becomes 'ace' (I've seen this before**).
'time' becomes 't'.
'embracing' indicates putting letters inside.
'very' becomes 'v' (abbreviation).
'ordinary' becomes 'o' (abbreviation e.g. O-Levels).
'ace'+'t'='acet'
'v'+'o'='vo'
'acet' placed around 'vo' is 'AVOCET'.
(Other definitions for avocet that I've seen before include "Long-legged wading bird with upward-curving bill" , "Shorebird with bill curving upwards" , "Curved-bill shore bird" , "Wading bird - octave (anag)" , "Flier" .)