Black-necked Crane

The Black-necked Crane is the only crane species adapted to breed at high altitude, occupying wetlands and marshes across the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent high-elevation regions of China, and wintering at somewhat lower-altitude wetlands in the same general region. Its pale grey body, black head and neck, and bare red crown patch resemble the pattern of the Common Crane, but it is generally paler and restricted to a much more specialized high-altitude habitat.

• Body feathers are pale grey, similar in general tone to the Common Crane and Sarus Crane.
• Head and neck feathers are black, extending down over the upper breast in some individuals, differing from the black-and-white striped neck pattern of the Common Crane.
• Tertial (bustle) feathers are elongated, drooping, and blackish, curling over the tail.
• A small white patch is present behind the eye in some individuals, though generally less extensive than in the Common Crane.
• Distinguish from the Common Crane by a fully black (rather than black-and-white striped) neck and by the species' restriction to high-altitude Tibetan Plateau wetlands.

Adults are pale grey with a black head and neck, a bare red crown patch, and elongated drooping black tertial bustle feathers. Sexes look alike. Juveniles have a feathered, buffy-brown head lacking the black coloring and bare red crown, gradually acquiring full adult plumage over their first year or so. Molt follows the short high-altitude breeding season, timed to the brief ice-free period on the Tibetan Plateau.

Black-necked Cranes breed on high-altitude wetlands and marshes of the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent regions, typically at elevations far higher than used by most other crane species. They are migratory within a relatively limited geographic range, moving to somewhat lower-elevation wetlands and river valleys in the same broad region for the winter rather than undertaking long-distance movements comparable to lowland crane species.

This crane forages in high-altitude wetlands and adjacent grassland for plant material, tubers, and small invertebrates, adapted to the short growing season and cold conditions of the plateau. It nests on the ground in marshy areas, laying a small clutch during the brief high-altitude breeding season. Its call is a loud, resonant trumpeting similar to other Grus cranes. As the only crane species specialized for a high-altitude existence, it holds particular ecological and cultural significance across the Tibetan Plateau region.