Seed quietly snaffled by smart parrot (8)
I believe the answer is:
chickpea
'seed' is the definition.
(I know that chickpea is a type of bean)
'quietly snaffled by smart parrot' is the wordplay.
'quietly' becomes 'p' (p for piano and quiet).
'snaffled by' indicates putting letters inside (snaffle means to take or steal).
'smart' becomes 'chic' (both can mean stylish).
'parrot' becomes 'kea' (kea is a kind of parrot).
'chic'+'kea'='chickea'
'p' placed inside 'chickea' is 'CHICKPEA'.
(Other definitions for chickpea that I've seen before include "A pulse, garbanzo" , "Type of pulse used in hoummos" , "Hummus pulse" , "Round yellowish seed, eaten as a pulse" , "Mediterranean legume" .)