The natural spawning grounds are the most critical habitat for maintaining the Gymnocypris przewalskii resources in the Qinghai Lake, while they were not well studied yet. This study aims at analyzing the habitat characteristics of the spawning grounds of G. przewalskii in one of the tributaries of the Qinghai Lake, Quanji River, via field survey and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) identification technique. The results showed that the morphology of Quanji River could be divided into three types:meandering, braided and straight river channels. The natural spawning grounds of G. przewalskii were mostly located in the braided river channel (100%), less in the meandering channel (70%), and rare in the straight channel. The average length, width, tortuosity and area of the spawning grounds in the Quanji River was (135.13±61.13)m, (30.01±17.51)m, (1.09±0.07)and the (4586.60±4201.61)m², respectively. The spawning grounds often located in the river with riffles, the average water depth was (0.19±0.10)m(range 0.03-0.44m) and an average velocity was (0.24±0.20)m/s (range 0.01-0.81m/s), the substrate was pebble and sand (particle size 16-256mm). The riverbank morphology, the distribution of the island and the water depth could be used in UAV image for identifying the potential spawning grounds in the whole Quanji River, the result can be verified by the field data. The research is benefit for the assessment and protection of the natural spawning grounds for G. przewalskii and provides a case study for future spawning grounds investigation in some tough field survey areas.