Please German sailors with bird (7)
I believe the answer is:
bittern
'bird' is the definition.
(bittern is a kind of bird)
'please german sailors' is the wordplay.
'please german' becomes 'bitte' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'sailors' becomes 'RN' (abbreviation for Royal Navy).
'bitte'+'rn'='BITTERN'
'with' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bittern that I've seen before include "Bird with a booming cry" , "''He shall not hear the ... cry / In the wild sky where he is lain'' (Lament for Thomas MacDonagh)" , "flier" , "Aquatic bird" , "Source of boom" .)