Central Park's Celebrated Mandarin Duck Has Flown Around The Corner For A Pack Of Smokes

Sometimes ducks leave. Maybe no one told you this, but it's a fact of life—"Every duck leaves, baby, that's a fact, but maybe every duck that leaves, someday comes back."

The Mandarin Duck, a.k.a. Mandarin Patinkin, a.k.a. Hot Duck, has not been seen in his usual spots around Central Park all month. The last tweeted sighting was on March 27th at the pond (which he made his main residence last October). Then poof, he was gone. Didn't even leave a note.

This isn't the first time he's gone "missing," however—previously he's taken trips to the East River, the Hudson River, and even New Jersey. Ducks have wings, after all, giving them the ability to fly. Do they have free will? To paraphrase Baruch Spinoza, "It's complicated!" But... probably?

It's possible he was getting out the spotlight while he transformed into Ugly-Hot Duck, or is out there looking for a girlfriend for breeding season. It's also possible, because anything is possible, that he has shapeshifted and we simply do not recognize him in his new form. No one can say for sure!

If you see Mandarin Patinkin, please alert us. (If you see a coyote with feathers coming out of his mouth, also please alert us.) And note, he may look like this duck below now (if he does not look like the above):

A mandarin duck molting. (Shutterstock)

In the meantime, we have reached out to David Barrett, who runs Manhattan Bird Alert account, and will update if he has any intel. Below, some reassurance:

And you can still see him on the subway: