Are various small birds travelling west, after starling initially again takes over (9)

I believe the answer is:

reassumes

'are various small birds travelling west after starling initially' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.

'again takes over' is the wordplay.
'again' becomes 're'.
'takes over' becomes 'assumes' ('assume' can be a synonym of 'take over').
're'+'assumes'='REASSUMES'

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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