Unexpectedly greet fowl (5)
I believe the answer is:
egret
'fowl' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both animals as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'unexpectedly greet' is the wordplay.
'unexpectedly' is an anagram indicator.
'greet' with letters rearranged gives 'EGRET'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for egret that I've seen before include "White-plumed wader" , "Type of forty eight Ac" , "Water-bird, has plume" , "One of a pair of waders" , "White wading bird" .)