Today’s photo of the week is of a male hihi/stitchbird on Tiritiri Matangi Island near Auckland.

Last week the Hihi/Stitchbird Recovery Group won a prestigious Australasian conservation award in recognition of their efforts to protect this rare native bird.

The Practitioner Award was awarded to the group by the Australasian Wildlife Management Society (AWMS) at their annual conference.

“New Zealanders should be very proud of the hihi conservation success story,” said the elated Dr John Ewen, co-leader of the Hihi Recovery Group.

This photo was taken by J. Graham | CC BY-NC 2.0