Small bird taking shelter (8)
I believe the answer is:
nestling
'small bird' is the definition.
(a bird that's still in the nest)
'shelter' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'shelter' could be 'nest' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'nest' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ling' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'taking' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nestling that I've seen before include "Young bird not yet fledged" , "Young bird - snuggling" , "Baby bird" , "in a huddle" , "Settling in comfortably, against someone perhaps" .)