Rare Mandarin duck remains one hot commodity in New York City

by Dawn Walton | Posted on

A rare Mandarin duck is really making itself home in New York.

The bird, normally found in East Asia, landed in in the city earlier this fall and is showing no sign of wanting to leave.

In fact, he’s really made itself at home.

The duck braved the Big Apple’s first real snowfall with style.

He’s even barking at locals with a certain Manhattan swagger.

Because if you wan’t to live in New York, you have to be able to throw your weight around.

But he’s been reminded of his place in the pecking order, too.

The rather beautiful bird has really been drawing a crowd.

Bird nerds are flocking to him.

Because, he’s so unusual looking to the eyes of New Yorkers.

But officials keep having to remind people to give the rare bird some space.

Little wonder it has been trying to take a break from the big city.

The duck has been flitting over to New Jersey from time to time.

But his occasional disappearance from Central Park ruffled the feathers of birders with worry.


How exactly he got there — or how long he’ll stay — isn’t exactly clear.

Speculation has ranged from an epic round-the-world flight to a rather mundane escape from a farm in New Jersey.

But no matter.

His popularity shows no signs of letting up.

And the so-called hot duck phenomenon is largely thanks to David Barrett, who put the Mandarin on the city’s map The world’s viral radar, if you will.

You can read all about the man behind the duck here.

Because we all know celebrities don’t become celebrities without someone behind the scenes.

Main photos Phil McGrew/Twitter

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Recovering newspaper reporter.

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