Improved hihi feeders installed at Whanganui's Bushy Park, funded from Allan Anderson's Pride of New Zealand win

A male hihi darts out of one of the new bird feeders at Whanganui's Bushy Park. Photo / Bevan Conley

Giving its loud and cheeky call a colourful male hihi flits in and out of one of the new bird feeders at Bushy Park.

Whanganui conservationist Allan Anderson has sunk some of the money from his Pride of New Zealand win into new and improved bird feeders for the 100ha Bushy Park Sanctuary.

Anderson won $4000 in the environment category of the awards in 2015. Some of that money went into track improvement at the sanctuary near Whanganui.

The rest, with some additions, went into researching, developing and making stainless steel feeders for the hihi (stitchbirds) at Bushy Park. The feeders are designed specifically for dispensing sugar water to that species.

They were developed by the Hihi Recovery Group and Conservation Department, and trialled for two years. The finished feeders cost about $700 each.

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Old feeders have been moved out and five new ones installed at Bushy Park.

"The older version served us very well but, like all things, they evolved," Anderson said.

The new feeders are easy to clean and light to carry. They make it easy for the birds to be caught and for visitors to watch them fly in and out and feed.

Their design was a finalist in the Conservation Innovation Awards last year.

The feeders were launched at Bushy Park on August 21. The main sponsors were the TSB Bank, which sponsored the Pride of New Zealand Awards, and Biodiversity Protection Incorporated.