Spring 2010 Black-necked Crane migration in southwestern China (click on the image to view the full-size map)
ICF researchers tracked four Black-necked Cranes banded with satellite transmitters as they migrated north this spring in southwestern China. The four Black-necked Cranes, along with a fifth crane whose transmitter stopped functioning in mid April, were banded by ICF and Chinese partners in early 2009 (2 birds) and 2010 (3 birds).
The three cranes banded this winter migrated approximately 180 km in early May from their wintering area at Napahai Nature Reserve, Yunnan Province to their summering area on the western edge of Haizishan Nature Reserve in Daocheng County, Sichuan Province. The final crane, which was banded in winter 2009 and was tracked for over a year, stopped at the Haizishan Reserve and then continued north through Litang County to the border area of Baiyu and Xinglong Counties. This crane left the wintering area in early April and traveled 400 km to it’s summering area over a three week time period.
The location data from the banded cranes confirm data collected last spring, when researchers first identified these two new summering areas in Sichuan Province. ICF partnered with the China Exploration and Research Society, Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Napahai Nature Reserve, Shangri-la County Forestry Bureau and National Bird Banding Center of China to complete the banding and migration study.
