Sing melody, ripping off male cuckoo (5)
I believe the answer is:
yodel
'sing' is the definition.
(I know that yodel is a more specific form of the action sing)
'melody ripping off male cuckoo' is the wordplay.
'ripping off' is a deletion indicator.
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'cuckoo' indicates anagramming the letters.
'melody' with 'm' taken out is 'elody'.
'elody' is an anagram of 'YODEL'.
(Other definitions for yodel that I've seen before include "Alpine mountain call" , "Sing in high pitch like Swiss mountain dwellers" , "Sing in Tyrolean fashion" , "Sing like the Lonely Goatherd?" , "Sing like some Alpine dwellers" .)