Friend ringing a seabird taking protective interest (8)
I believe the answer is:
paternal
'protective interest' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'friend ringing a seabird' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a friend).
'ringing' is an insertion indicator.
'seabird' becomes 'tern' (tern is a kind of seabird).
'a'+'tern'='atern'
'pal' placed around 'atern' is 'PATERNAL'.
'taking' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for paternal that I've seen before include "Fatherly in pre-natal mode" , "protective interest" , "Dad's" , "Related on the father's side" , "Fatherly in prenatal way" .)