Crossword Genius

Keep a rat to produce a parrot (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

parakeet

'a parrot' is the definition.
(parakeet is a kind of parrot)

'keep a rat to produce' is the wordplay.
'to produce' indicates anagramming the letters.
'keep'+'a'+'rat'='keeparat'
'keeparat' anagrammed gives 'PARAKEET'.

(Other definitions for parakeet that I've seen before include "Small long-tailed parrot" , "Brightly-coloured African bird" , "Flier" , "Tropical bird" , "Colourful singer" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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