Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Hihi have better breeding season at Whanganui sanctuary

Laurel Stowell
By Laurel Stowell
Reporter·Whanganui Chronicle·
20 May, 2019 04:59 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A male hihi (stitchbird) darts out of a bird feeder at Bushy Park Sanctuary. Photo file / Bevan Conley

A male hihi (stitchbird) darts out of a bird feeder at Bushy Park Sanctuary. Photo file / Bevan Conley

The endangered native hihi at Bushy Park Sanctuary have just had one of their better breeding seasons.

Hihi (stitchbirds) were first introduced to the 98ha sanctuary 25km from Whanganui in 2013. Since then the numbers of new chicks fledged have varied from 14 to 48.

In this last season 41 chicks were fledged, up from 27 and 14 in the previous two seasons. Sanctuary manager Mandy Brooke said the better season could have been due to settled weather, with enough rain at intervals.

There are only a few thousand hihi left alive in the world. They are all in seven protected populations in New Zealand, and Bushy Park is one of them. In April last year 10 extra hihi were moved there from Tiritiri Matangi Island in the Hauraki Gulf - five female and five male, to add genetic diversity.

The 41 chicks fledged this year were from 11 females.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The birds also got new feeders last year, and volunteers stock them with sugar water twice a week.

North Island robins (toutouwai) and saddlebacks (tieke) have also been introduced into the predator-fenced sanctuary.

They have thrived there. An estimated 600 toutouwai live there now, and there were so many tieke that some have been transferred to another nearby sanctuary, Rotokare Scenic Reserve in Taranaki.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Listen to "Episode 8, May 20, 2019" on Spreaker.

Discover more

Kate Richardson counts and bands birds

21 Sep 01:00 AM

Rare plants protected, precious forest weeded by volunteers

25 Nov 11:00 PM

The little things that make Bushy Park keep on growing

06 Dec 03:31 AM

Kāpiti couple reconnect with region

08 Feb 04:00 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Sport

Cooks Classic added to World Athletics Continental Tour

27 Jun 12:16 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

How a small alpine town handles major winter festival

26 Jun 06:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Horizons ratepayers face 8.8% rate increase

26 Jun 05:30 PM

Kaibosh gets a clean-energy boost in the fight against food waste

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Cooks Classic added to World Athletics Continental Tour

Cooks Classic added to World Athletics Continental Tour

27 Jun 12:16 AM

'By moving to a complete Bronze meeting, we will be able to showcase another 12 events.'

How a small alpine town handles major winter festival

How a small alpine town handles major winter festival

26 Jun 06:00 PM
Horizons ratepayers face 8.8% rate increase

Horizons ratepayers face 8.8% rate increase

26 Jun 05:30 PM
'Keep an eye on the forecast': Heavy rain watch, strong winds on way

'Keep an eye on the forecast': Heavy rain watch, strong winds on way

26 Jun 02:35 AM
Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style
sponsored

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP