Night fliers attempt to rise (4)
I believe the answer is:
bats
'night fliers' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'attempt to rise' is the wordplay.
'attempt to' becomes 'stab' (I've seen this before).
'rise' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'stab' written backwards gives 'BATS'.
(Other definitions for bats that I've seen before include "Cricketers" , "out to lunch" , "bananas" , "Cuckoo" , "Crazy - mammals" .)