Criminals hide bird between ends of conduits (6)
I believe the answer is:
crooks
'criminals' is the definition.
('crook' can be a synonym of 'criminal')
'bird between ends of conduits' is the wordplay.
'bird' becomes 'rook' (rook is a kind of bird).
'between' is an insertion indicator.
'ends of' suggests removing the centre.
'conduits' with its middle removed is 'cs'.
'rook' put within 'cs' is 'CROOKS'.
'hide' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for crooks that I've seen before include "Bad guys" , "More than one criminal" , "at 16 down [MAN UNITED]" , "taken in hand by bishops" , "Criminals and bishops' staves" .)