Dogs start barking in front of birds (7)
I believe the answer is:
beagles
'dogs' is the definition.
(beagle is a kind of dog)
'start barking in front of birds' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'birds' could be 'eagles' (eagle is a kind of bird) and 'eagles' is found within the answer.
A single letter 'b' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for beagles that I've seen before include "Hunting hounds" , "These hounds bag eels badly" , "Short-legged hounds" , "Dogs" .)