Wince as bird pecks trainee (6)
I believe the answer is:
flinch
'wince' is the definition.
(I know that wince can be written as flinch)
'bird pecks trainee' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'trainee' could be 'l' and 'l' is located in the answer.
'bird' could be 'finch' (finch is a kind of bird) and 'finch' is found within the leftover letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'as' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for flinch that I've seen before include "Cower, baulk" , "quail?" , "Draw back in fear, recoil" , "Start back in pain or shock" , "Draw back in shock" .)