Crowds gather to spot colourful duck in New York
163 views · Published 11 December 2018 · 1:59 · Indexed 8 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(6 Dec 2018) It took just days for the exotic Mandarin duck that appeared suddenly in Central Park to turn both New Yorkers and visitors into fans and inspire a new word: quackarazzi. A horde of photographers gather daily in the park off Fifth Avenue, waiting for another sighting of the dark-eyed bird with orange feathers splayed across its purple chest, a bright pink bill and emerald green forehead. On Wednesday, New York's latest rising star floated leisurely on the pond under The Plaza hotel -- a showboat preening its bright wings for admirers standing on the shore. The beautiful bird was spotted in late October around northern New Jersey, then decided to move to the big city. Despite all the oogling in New York, bird experts say the species isn't all that rare, and Mandarin ducks are commonly seen in their natural habitat across a swatch of eastern Asia, from Russia and China, to Korea and Japan. The Central Park bird has a plastic zip-tie band around one foot, indicating that humans have handled it -- possibly a collector of exotic animals kept on a private property. And from time to time, they escape into the wild. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/cf5907b03980c7dcf74091abaf303cb5
