Singer’s sad attempt to pick up start of recitative (8)
I believe the answer is:
bluebird
'singer's' is the definition.
(bluebird is a kind of birdanimal)
'sad attempt to pick up start of recitative' is the wordplay.
'sad' becomes 'blue' (similar in meaning).
'attempt' becomes 'bid' (bid is a kind of attempt).
'to pick up' is an insertion indicator.
'start of' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'recitative' is 'r'.
'bid' going around 'r' is 'bird'.
'blue'+'bird'='BLUEBIRD'
(Other definitions for bluebird that I've seen before include "Racing car" , "American avian" , "Cerulean flier associated with happiness" , "Fast car - or boat" , "US flier (but never seen over the white cliffs of Dover)" .)