Crossword Genius

Describing a certain bird? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cocksure

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

'describing a' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'certain bird?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'certain' could be 'sure' (synonyms) and 'sure' is present in the answer.
'bird?' could be 'cock' (cock is a kind of bird) and 'cock' is found within the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cocksure that I've seen before include "Annoyingly self-confident" , "Foolishly over-confident" , "Arrogantly certain" , "Use crock to be confidently certain" , "Offensively confident" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail and The Guardian.
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