Short trip to study bird (6)
I believe the answer is:
falcon
'bird' is the definition.
(falcon is a kind of bird)
'short trip to study' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'trip' becomes 'fall' (fall is a kind of trip).
'to study' becomes 'con' (conning is a kind of studying).
'fall' with its final letter removed is 'fal'.
'fal'+'con'='FALCON'
(Other definitions for falcon that I've seen before include "A hunting bird, may be peregine" , "Hunting bird, may be peregrine" , "Kind of hunting bird - peregrine is one" , "Hunter winged" , "Clan of (anag) - raptor" .)