SENTINEL OF THE HIGH COLD DESERT

The bird's evocative call may not continue to roll across the cold desert valley for long

- ASAD R RAHMANI

In the stark, windswept landscapes of the Tibetan and Trans-Himalayan plateau, a haunting, resonant call rises over the marshes each summer. It belongs to the black-necked crane, one of the region's most iconic birds. Standing nearly 1.4 metres tall, the crane cuts a striking figure: a largely whitish-grey body contrasted by a jet-black head and upper neck, splashes of red around the eye, and long, elegant legs built for wading through alpine bogs. Juveniles, cloaked in darker grey with a rusty tinge, shadow their parents as the family moves through meadows blooming with sedges and wildflowers.

Globally, only 13,000 to 15,000 black-necked cranes survive, most on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the species as Near Threatened. In India, particularly in Ladakh, its fragile population is edging downwards. Locally, the bird is known as “cha thung-thung” in Ladakh and “thungdung karma” in Arunachal Pradesh, names that echo through generations of pastoral communities who share the high-altitude wetlands with these cranes.