Small animal we may hear that makes harsh cry (9)
I believe the answer is:
screecher
'small animal we may hear that makes harsh' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'cry' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'cry' could be 'screech' (screeching is a kind of crying) and 'screech' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'er' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for screecher that I've seen before include "Something with a harsh cry" , "one with shrill voice" , "Owl" .)