Possible Clues:

• River bird
• Less vocal waterfowl emu wants beaten
• Firm I'm thinking about washed out glider
• Bird in group with hesitant utterance falling back, looking sickly
• Greek character lay back beside whey-faced creature
• Bird wasn't 16 -- cuckoo!
• Smew aunt confused with another bird
• Waterbird having white plumage and an orange-red bill with a black knob at the base
• Man U stew about possible pen