Secret withdrawn accepting bird before time (8)
I believe the answer is:
stealthy
'secret' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'withdrawn accepting bird before time' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'bird' could be 'teal' (kind of duck) and 'teal' is located in the answer.
'time' could be 't' (abbreviation) and 't' is found in the answer.
'withdrawn' could be 'shy' (both can mean reserved or introverted) and 'shy' is located in the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stealthy that I've seen before include "Secretive, silent" , "Acting in quiet or secret way" , "Covert - clandestine" , "'Furtive, surreptitious (8)'" , "Done in a quiet or secretive way" .)