Crossword Genius

Execute rabbits and birds (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dodoes

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'birds' is the definition.
(dodo is a kind of bird)

'execute rabbits' is the wordplay.
'execute' becomes 'do' (synonyms).
'rabbits' becomes 'does' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'do'+'does'='DODOES'

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dodoes that I've seen before include "Old-fashioned types" , "people with little intelligence" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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