Damned short bird that often appears half-legless? (7)

I believe the answer is:

flaming

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

'damned short bird that often' is the definition.
'flaming' can be an answer for 'damned' (thesaurus). I am not certain of the remainder of the definition.

'appears half-legless?' is the wordplay.
'appears' becomes 'fla' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'half' means to take half the letters.
'legless?' becomes 'steaming' (I've seen this before).
'steaming' cut in half is 'ming'.
'fla'+'ming'='FLAMING'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for flaming that I've seen before include "Ardent" , "Burning fiercely" , "Fiery" , "Brightly coloured" , "Passionate" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.