Some birds cower (5)
I believe the answer is:
quail
'cower' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for quail that I've seen before include "Show fear - of small game bird?" , "Small bird of the partridge family" , "See little bird" , "Flinch from small gamebird?" , "Game bird - cower" .)