Crossword Genius

Time to take a bird out for a run, possibly (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

january

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'time to take a bird' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'out for a run possibly' is the wordplay.
'out' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'for' becomes 'jay' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'possibly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'a'+'run'='arun'
'arun' is an anagram of 'nuar'.
'jay' enclosing 'nuar' is 'JANUARY'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for january that I've seen is " First month".)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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