Liu et al. • MIGRATION ROUTES OF BLACK-NECKED CRANES 
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FIG. 1. Distribution and migration routes of Black-necked Cranes in China. Areas circled in green are breeding areas; 
areas circled in red are wintering areas (remapped from Li and Li 2005). Black dots indicate locations of Black-necked 
Cranes from Birdlife International (2001). Occasional records from outside normal range are excluded when <1.900 m asl 
(Li and Li 2005). Blue lines indicate migration routes of Black-necked Cranes documented by satellite tracking or banding 
(Archibald '’OOS Qian et al. 2009; Drolma Tsamchue. pers. obs.; F. Li. pers. obs.; G. W. Archibald, pers. comm.; Wangmo 
Rinchen, pers. comm.). Areas with oblique lines are new breeding areas discovered in our study (rectangle denotes 
study area). 
subpopulation and 16.1 % for the eastern subpop- 
ulation (Li and Li 2005), indicating productivity 
of this subpopulation is declining. Thus, improv¬ 
ing knowledge of migratory routes, and resting 
and breeding areas of these cranes is crucial to 
conserving this endangered species. 
We used satellite telemetry in 2009 and 2010 at 
Napahai Marsh to study the migration ol the 
central subpopulation. Our objectives were to: (I) 
identify migration routes and stopover sites ol 
Black-necked Cranes wintering at Napahai Marsh, 
and (2) assess the overall habitat characteristics at 
stopover and breeding sites. 
METHODS 
We captured five Bluek-nccked Cranes with 
noose-carpet traps, as described by Sutherland et 
al. (2004), between 21 February and 16 November 
2009 at Napahai Marsh (27 48'-55' N, 99 37 - 
41' E: 3,260 in asl). a seasonal lake dominated by 
open water, shallow water marshes, wet meadows, 
dry grasslands, and 1 arm lands in northwestern 
Yunnan Province (Liu et al. 2010). All captured 
cranes were released immediately after the 
satellite transmitters were attached. Each satellite 
transmitter or platform transmitter terminal (PTT) 
(Model PTT-100; Microwave Telemetry Inc., 
Columbia, MD. USA) weighed 95 g. PTTs were 
attached to the backs of cranes with Teflon-treated 
ribbons as described by Nagendran et al. (1994). 
The satellite transmitters amounted to <2% of the 
normal bird's body mass (mean = 5,390 g, /; = 5 
individuals) and each transmitter had a unique 
number (ID) used to identify individuals. The 
pulse interval of PTrs was 60 sec with a duty 
cycle of 6 hrs active and 12 Ins inactive. Color 
bands were attached to the legs of each crane to 
provide identification in subsequent field obser¬ 
vations. Location data were ranked in order of 
accuracy from lowest to highest: Z. B. A, 0, 1, 2, 
to 3. The ±1 SD accuracies reported by Argos 
(2011) were: >1,000 in for location class (LC) 0; 
350-1.000 m for LC 1; 150-350 m for LC 2; and 
<150 m for LC 3. Accuracies for the lowest LCs 
(A. B, and Z) were not guaranteed. We used LCs 
1-3 for data analysis, but data for LCs 0 and A 
