Contend the noise is made by a bird (7)

I believe the answer is:

sparrow

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'bird' is the definition.
(sparrow is a kind of bird)

'contend the noise' is the wordplay.
'contend' becomes 'spar' (sparring is a kind of contending).
'the noise' becomes 'row'.
'spar'+'row'='SPARROW'

'is made by a' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sparrow that I've seen before include "Small songbird" , "Pirate" , "one on the wing" , "Passerine bird" , "Finch-like bird" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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