White as a bird (5)

I believe the answer is:

ashen

'white' is the definition.
(I know that white can be written as ashen)

'as a bird' is the wordplay.
'a bird' becomes 'hen' (hen is a kind of bird).
'as'+'hen'='ASHEN'

(Other definitions for ashen that I've seen before include "Having gone pale" , "pasty" , "Grey in colour" , "(Of face) pale (with shock)" , "Pale (faced)" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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