‘One good looking duck.’ Stunning, rare Mandarin duck in Central Park charms NYC
As far as anyone who has seen him is concerned, the gorgeous Mandarin duck that has mysteriously taken up residence in New York’s Central Park blows all other birds out of the water.
He has captivated Gotham denizens to the point where they are stalking him and using every synonym for “beautiful” as they pass his picture around on social media in a viral frenzy.
The duck was first spotted earlier this month. According to NBC New York, bird photographer Gus Keri saw him near the Hallett Nature Sanctuary in the park and recorded a video.
Mandarin ducks are native to East Asia, and the Manhattan Bird Alert — a Twitter account that tracks bird sightings in NYC — told NBC New York the bird doesn’t migrate near New York.
A band on this bird’s right leg offers a clue that it might have escaped from a zoo or someone’s private collection, the bird group told NBC.
The Central Park Zoo, which has a Mandarin duck, told NBC the one paddling around the park’s ponds isn’t the zoo’s.
Mandarin ducks are native to China and Japan, according to the British website Living With Birds.
All that gushing about this duck’s beauty is not surprising, given that Mandarin ducks are “widely regarded as the world’s most beautiful duck,” according to the website. “The drake mandarin’s stunning plumage has long made it an artist’s favourite, and it is widely depicted in oriental art.”
The Central Park bird went MIA after that first sighting but was spotted again last week.
“For almost two weeks we didn’t know what happened to it,” David Barrett, creator of Manhattan Bird Alert, told The New York Times. “We assumed it got eaten by a raptor.”
Park officials told The Times they have no plans to try and capture it. Barrett is confident that it can survive in Central Park for a while, he told the newspaper.
In the meantime, who knows how many hours of work time are being lost to people tweeting about it — pun intended.
“Thankfully for these ducks, despite the males’ impressive breeding plumage, they aren’t sought after by hunters,” says Mother Nature Network.