Cryptic Teaser

[Birchy]

Sorry, but I couldn't see an appropriate category - Puzzles Category, Answerbank? - the clue is, 'A bird going in opposite directions' (5 letters) and the answer is either bird, animal or fish. Eider has the letters of the opposite directions in a jumbled form, but any other ideas anyone?

[sft42]

How about NEWTS??

[Birchy]

I like newts, with all the directions in it......but I don't get the "bird" part of it. Am I just being dim?

[sft42]

No that's the problem i had. that's why i put the question marks. Looking through text books on birds i can't really find a match for anything else like that though i maybe missing something.

[Ewood27]

SWAN?

[Chinajan]

Can you explain how you know the answer is necessarily a creature? Is it a themed puzzle? I would agree that the obvious answer is a bird name contained within opposite compass directions, but a palindromic name might fit. If only I could think of anything other than "tit". Hmmm.

[Birchy]

It is a themed puzzle - although I know that other answers have been insects, so we may not be strictly bound to what is normally considered the "animal kingdom". Does anybody know if, within cryptic clue etiquette, if EIDER is definitely not the answer?

[Chinajan]

I don't see how Eider can be right, unless the puzzle is badly clued (not unusual). The nearest I can get is Swine, which has opposite directions (south west and north east) but disappointingly, leaves only the letter "i" to account for the bird part of the clue.

[Chinajan]

Forget my last post: I think I have the answer: An ALULA is a type of bird, and would fit the clue in that it reads the same whichever way you look at it, being palindromic. Any good?

[Birchy]

I'd have settled for ALULA, however, it appears to be the feathers of a bird rather than an actual bird type. If there's a website that says it's definitely a species, then I'd be grateful......thanks for the great efforts Chinajan!