Huge admiration expressed for birds (7)
I believe the answer is:
ospreys
'birds' is the definition.
(osprey is a type of bird)
'huge admiration expressed' is the wordplay.
'huge' becomes 'os' (abbreviation for outsize).
'admiration' becomes 'praise' (I have seen 'Express admiration' mean 'praise' so perhaps 'admiration' could also mean 'praise').
'expressed' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'praise' is a homophone of 'preys'.
'os'+'preys'='OSPREYS'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ospreys that I've seen before include "flyers" , "Birds that feed on fish" , "Fish-eating hawks" , "Fish-eating birds of prey" , "Preys so close to fishing eagles" .)