Songbirds noted in strong winds after dark (12)

I believe the answer is:

nightingales

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

'songbirds' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'in strong winds after dark' is the wordplay.
'strong winds' becomes 'gales' (I've seen this before).
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'dark' becomes 'night' (synonyms).
'in'+'gales'='ingales'
'ingales' after 'night' is 'NIGHTINGALES'.

'noted' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may belong to another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for nightingales that I've seen is " Songbirds".)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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