Top bird acquiring a gift (8)
I believe the answer is:
bestowal
'gift' is the definition.
(I know that bestowal is a type of gift)
'top bird acquiring a' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'top' could be 'best' (similar in meaning) and 'best' is found in the answer.
'a' is found in the answer.
'bird' could be 'owl' (owl is a kind of bird) and 'owl' is located in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bestowal that I've seen before include "disposal" , "Conferment (of an honour)" , "Act of conferring (eg, grant on someone)" , "award" , "Act of giving" .)