Black-necked crane

The black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) is a gruid 110–150 cm long and 4–7 kg in weight, greyish-white with a black head and neck and a dark red bare crown, its tertials elongated into filaments. Described in 1876, it is the only crane that both breeds and winters on the high plateau. It nests in wetlands of the Tibetan Plateau at 3,500–5,000 m and winters in the Yarlung Tsangpo valley, Yunnan and Guizhou. Rhizomes, tubers, crop grains and small animals are eaten. The IUCN assesses it Near Threatened, with about 17,000 birds reported in 2024.