A crane that breeds in high mountain regions and descends to lower wintering areas.
Adults have a black head and neck, a red crown and a gray body, with a small pale patch behind the eye.
At Ruoergai Wetland on the Sichuan–Gansu border, grassland covered 86% of the study area, but all 21 Black-necked Crane nests found in 2003–05 were in wetland patches: 14 by lakes, four in swamps and three by rivers. Nest forms were 14 islands, three reed beds and four mud sites. Island platforms used grass, aquatic plants and mud; water beside nests averaged 31.1 cm deep (23–48 cm).
The authors proposed that water and distance from shore may hinder terrestrial predators. They recommended protecting lakes, retaining roughly 100 m² swamp-water patches as buffers, and restoring wetlands to reduce fragmentation. The reserve’s 21 nests show why wetland quality depends on small features such as water depth, vegetation and shore distance.
IUCN Red List · Near Threatened (NT) · Global species-level assessment
BirdLife International's 2020 global IUCN assessment classified the Black-necked Crane as Near Threatened (NT) on 24 July 2020. It reported a stable population trend and estimated 6,600–6,800 mature individuals. The assessment linked recent increases to lower adult mortality following winter-habitat protection and creation, while noting that a single small global population remains exposed to threats that could cause future declines. It identifies changes in water levels, wetland drainage or conversion, intensive grazing, and disturbance at breeding and wintering sites among the concerns.