German university students get the bird (4)
I believe the answer is:
gull
'the bird' is the definition.
(gull is a kind of bird)
'german university students' is the wordplay.
'german' becomes 'g' (abbreviation).
'university' becomes 'U' (abbreviation as in UMass).
'students' becomes 'LL' (an abbreviation for learner driver written twice).
'g'+'u'+'ll'='GULL'
'get' is the link.
(Other definitions for gull that I've seen before include "Seabird - fool" , "Seabird with webbed feet" , "Aquatic bird with short legs" , "Seabird with a raucous call" , "Take in" .)