Lhunzhub County is located in the middle of Tibet along the upper reaches of the Lhasa River. It is also called Pengbo after the Pengbo River. Gandain Qugo Town, the county government headquarters, is 65 km from Lhasa.

The county covers an area of 4,517 square km, with 12,000 hectares of cultivatable land, and a total population is 52,000. The northern part belongs to the high and cold zone with the average elevation of some 4,160 meters. The southern part belongs to the drainage area of the Pengbo with an average elevation of 3,850 meters, where the terrain is flat and wide; it is a semi-dry farming and livestock breeding area. The dry and wet seasons are clearly demarcated, the difference in temperature between day and night is large, solar radiation is strong, and the climate is comparatively mild. A large piece of wetland beside the river is the main habitat for various rare birds wintering in Tibet, such as black-necked cranes, spotted-headed wild geese and Tadoraa ferruginea. The post-harvest stubble on the farmland is the main source of food for the birds to winter.

Although in early October every year, migratory birds will fly to Lhunzhub to winter, the best time to watch them is January and February and that is when photographer Jin Yong and I went.

Green-Headed Ducks in Chindo

Departing from Lhasa, you soon reach Chindo. There are two small ponds that are perfect places for fishing. Last year, highways were built there. The site at the side of the river was banked up to create a passing place for vehicles, but this threatened the two ponds. In winter, the larger of the two, which retains some water, is where green-headed ducks like to settle.

Green-headed ducks, the adults 50-62 cm long, are distributed over Europe, Asia, North America, Central America and the northern part of Africa, inhabiting lakes, rivers, ponds and swamps. They are gregarious birds, lively and active, and their staple food includes leaves, buds, haulms (stems or stalks) and seeds of plants, as well as mollusks, crustaceans, water insects, small fish and shrimps.

In the larger pond, there are 21 green-headed ducks altogether, including five females. In the coldest time of the year, the water in the pond at the side of the mountains is frozen, and the area for them to seek food is no more than 50 square meters at the side of the highways. They lead a regular life and pass their nights in the smaller dry pond nearby. At about eight in the morning, they will come back to the larger pond in groups from the smaller one to seek food, and then play on the ice in the afternoon. At nightfall, they return to the water. Sometimes, when they have their heads in the water looking for food they might be mistaken for floating branches in the twilight.

Male and females are clearly different. The female has brown feathers, which are very dim and blend in with the withered and yellow surrounding environment. Because the ducks build their nests in grasses at the side of the bank, they are prone to attack from otters and other animals during hatching so the female plumage offers some protection. Males, however, have bright colored feathers, especially the green tuft at the head and neck that is very dazzling in the sunshine. In this particular group of green-headed ducks, the position of female and male ducks is very strange because the former dominate. Whether they seek food or are moving to other places, it is the females that take the lead. When she moves, he will go, and when she stops, he will also stop. It is not breeding season now and there are several male ducks surrounding each female.

Paddling Place for Aquatic Birds

Marching on, our cars began to climb towards the mountains. After surmounting the steep peaks, tracts of farmland began to expand on the right-hand side of the highway. Three years ago, groups of spotted-headed wild geese and black-necked cranes wintered on the farmland, but nowadays the stubble is ploughed into the ground so the birds no longer appear.

Black-necked Cranes in the Center of Nature Reserve

There are two roads in Lhunzhub County: the upper one extends to Tiger Head Mountain Reservoir and the lower one to Karze Town. This time, we would go to Karze Town, which is the center of the nature reserve for black-necked cranes in Lhunzhub. The road is bad with many potholes, some large enough for ducks to swim in.

Zhugui Village is just beside the Karze reservoir. Black-necked cranes scattered over the surrounding farmland live alongside livestock such as cattle, pigs and goats. They especially like pigs. A common sight was a pig playing happily with two or three cranes, but they also fight sometimes.

When we arrived at Zhugui it was noon. People were dazzled by the sun. In the fields behind the village some cows were lay with eyes half closed, and a pig was digging the earth. At a distance, three black-necked cranes were watching. According to experience, something would happen.

Brooks and canals beside the fields were half dried up, and the little water left was frozen. Two yellow ducks moved around in the brooks. Jin Yong stopped the car in a place where cranes could not see. Behind a wall, we found a space for the camera.

Wintering black-necked cranes are divided into two social types. One is the family form, usually with two adults and one or two young; then, there are the bachelors who like to seek food in groups, five or six at least and sometimes hundreds at most.

Black-necked cranes are not very wide-awake among water birds. Beside groups of black-necked cranes are species such as yellow ducks and spotted-headed wild geese, and these birds will cry out in alarm with cawing sounds.

It takes six years for the young to leave their parents. During this time, although the size and feather coloring of the young cranes are similar to that of the parents and they are also able to seek for food like adult cranes, they have yet to mature and therefore cannot yet breed. The long growing period for black-necked cranes explains one reason why there are so few. In addition, protection is inadequate, and poaching has left them dangerously close to extinction.


Very often, after watching for a while, the adult cranes guarding their young on both flanks would walk slowly toward the cows and pigs in the sunshine. The cows only raised their heads briefly to look and then turned away. The pigs were still digging the earth and seemed not to see them. The young cranes approached to within two meters. At first, the pigs were very patient, digging up another piece of earth after finding nothing in the previous one. But gradually, the pigs became angry and began bellowing at the young cranes with open mouths to try and drive them away. The young cranes showed no respect, however. When the pig lunged, the birds would withdraw, only to return as soon as the pig became engrossed in the digging once again. Soon, the pig became impatient and drove it away again. After the pig had turned away, the young crane chased after it. A pig and a crane were playing happily in this game. But adult cranes and cows beside viewed it as common occurrence and showed no response. They were still seeking for food and basking in the sunshine.

China Tibet Magazine
YU QIAN