Breeding behaviour and productivity of Black-necked crane (Grus nigricolis) in Ladakh, Indian Trans-Himalaya

A long-term study was conducted to understand some aspects of breeding biology of Black-necked crane ( Grus nigricollis ) in Changthang, Ladakh. Data on aspects such as the breeding season, courtship, mating, egg laying and incubation period, nest site fidelity, egg morphometry, breeding productivity and recruitment rate were collected between 2003 and 2012. Black-necked crane started arriving from last week of March to first half of April and showed fidelity at ten nesting sites. Courtship and mating peaked early morning (0700 hours), around noon (1100 hours) and in late evening (0600 hours) while the nest building at evening (1600 hours). The egg laying period initiated in May and extended up to July. The average incubation period was 33.88±0.3 days. Hatching success, nest survival rate and fledgling increment rate of the bird were 73.3%, 0.55 ± 0.03 and 0.41 ± 0.02 respectively with an overall breeding productivity of 0.73. The present population of Black-necked crane in Changthang, Ladakh seems to stable with an average recruitment rate of 15.7±1.4.