Black-necked Crane

Black-necked Crane is the last of the world's cranes to be discovered by the scientific community, when it was first sighted by the Russian naturalist - Count Przewalski near Lake Koko Nor in the North Eastern Tibet, in 1876.

In India, Black-necked Crane was first reported from Ladakh in 1919 by a naturalist F. Ludlow at Tsokar. This is the only species that the crane specialist Dr. Laurence Walkinshaw was not able to study in the wild and the only one that has eluded man’s scrutiny and has retained its age-old aura of mystery and charm. This is not surprising indeed since it inhabits a region that has been one of the earth’s most physically impenetrable one due to the tough terrain. As a result of the difficulty in accessing the area until the 1980s this species was the least known crane species. In the past three decades, significant research and surveys have been conducted.

Identification Features:
Both the sexes are almost of the same size but male is slightly bigger than female. The upper long neck, head, primary and secondary flight feathers, and tail are completely black and body plumage is pale grey / whitish. A conspicuous red crown adorns the head. The bill is greenish and the legs and feet are black. The juveniles have a brownish head and neck and plumage is slightly paler than that of adult.

Distribution:
This species is found in India, China and Bhutan and breeds in high altitude wetlands in the Tibetan plateau at elevations of 2950-4900 m above mean sea level. High altitude marshes and lakes of Tibetan Plateau (Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Gansu), Sichuan (China), and eastern Ladakh (India) are the known breeding grounds of Black-necked Crane. The major wintering flocks are in Tibet, Yunnan and Guizhou (China) and Bhutan (Phobjika and Bomdaling Valleys) A small wintering population is also found in Sangti and Zimithang valleys of Arunachal Pradesh in India.  

Habitat:
The high altitude wetlands in the Tibetan plateau are the main breeding ground of the species. These wetlands with small mounds provide an excellent habitat to the birds for breeding. These birds winter at lower altitudes where they feed mainly on the leftover rice and potato fields.