Small bird of the partridge family (5)
I believe the answer is:
quail
'small bird of the partridge family' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is the entire clue.
(Other definitions for quail that I've seen before include "Flinch from small gamebird?" , "Game bird; flinch" , "Shrink; a bird" , "Small bird of the partridge family" , "Show fear - of small game bird?" .)