Friend climbing on branch points to bird (7)
I believe the answer is:
lapwing
'bird' is the definition.
(lapwing is a kind of bird)
'friend climbing on branch' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal is a kind of friend**).
'climbing' is a reversal indicator (in a down clue, letters climb up).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'branch' becomes 'wing'.
'pal' back-to-front is 'lap'.
'lap'+'wing'='LAPWING'
'points to' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lapwing that I've seen before include "Flier" , "Type of plover" , "Variety of plover" , "Plover, pewit" , "Green plover" .)