Possibly out to preserve an exotic bird (6)
I believe the answer is:
toucan
'an exotic bird' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'possibly out to preserve' is the wordplay.
'possibly' is an anagram indicator.
'to preserve' becomes 'can' (canning is a kind of preserving).
'out' anagrammed gives 'tou'.
'tou'+'can'='TOUCAN'
(Other definitions for toucan that I've seen before include "Brightly-coloured tropical bird with large beak" , "Showy bird" , "Fruit-eating bird" , "One with huge bill" , "Sounds as if a pair is able for the tropical bird" .)