Crossword Genius

Musician’s accessories lacking colour, getting the bird (4,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mute swan

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'bird' is the definition.
(mute swan is a kind of bird)

'musician's accessories lacking colour getting' is the wordplay.
'musician's accessories' becomes 'mutes' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'lacking colour' becomes 'wan' (I've seen this before).
'getting' says to put letters next to each other.
'mutes'+'wan'='MUTE SWAN'

'the' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mute swan that I've seen before include "Common waterbird" , "creature" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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