Rare Asian Bird That Has Avid Avian Followers Flocking To Stony Brook Didn't Fly Far From Home In Migration

STONY BROOK, NY — The rare Mandarin duck spotted chilling out at a neighborhood pond in Stony Brook had some help in his journey to North America, but, hopefully, it comes to a happy ending before temps plummet, says John DiLeonardo, an anthrozoologist who serves as executive director of Humane Long Island, an organization that rescues animals.

"He was raised in captivity — the wild world is very unnatural to him," he told Patch Thursday.

The bird, which has vibrant plumage, setting him apart from the flock of feathered friends at the pond, has been drawing the attention of birders all over Long Island since he was spotted last week.

He's known as a "lifer" in the birding community because it's considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to catch a glimpse.

But all of the attention is not good for him, DiLeonardo says.

The bird is native to Asia, which is a warmer climate, and it is also not accustomed to the foliage, as well as all the local predators.

So rescuers are planning to get a hold of him with the hope of placement in a sanctuary.

"Obviously, he didn't migrate here from Asia," he said. "So he escaped a backyard flock, or was abandoned [at the pond], like hundreds of other ducks that we rescue every single year on Long Island."

"Unfortunately, people buy these animals online, and then a lot of people are irresponsible with them," he said. "[The birds] either escape, or they realize how much care they take, and they need, and they just abandon them to the wild."

It is also possible that the duck escaped from a facility that houses exotic game for consumption.

"Nothing would surprise me nowadays," he said. "I mean, we see people doing that with even pigeons off the street."

Out of the 1,200 animals Humane Long Island rescues per year, half of them are domestic ducks, according to DeLeonardo.

"It is rare for someone to abandon a Mandarin duck in particular, but it's certainly not the first time," he added.

The National Audubon Society does not track exotic sightings, a spokesman said.

Patch has also reached out to the society's local chapter, Four Harbors Audubon, for comment.

The state's Department of Environmental Conservation has no jurisdiction over the matter because the bird is a species that is non-indigenous to New York, a spokeswoman said.

Naturally, the Mandarin duck would forage for native aquatic plants in the waterways.

"This guy does not eat our native plants, and he obviously was not brought up in the wild, so I'm sure he does not have adequate foraging skills, just like other domestics that are dumped in the wild," DiLeonardo said. "I'm sure he's used to being hand-fed. So it's certainly a concern with him being out there."

"We discourage people from going out looking for him, taking photos, harassing him, because we've seen really sad ends for these types of animals very often when the public is over-eager," he added.

A lot of photographers are trying to get very close to the Mandarin duck, which isn't healthy for him, according to DiLeonardo.

"This guy needs to be recovered, and brought to a reputable sanctuary where he can live with other Mandarin ducks in a large aviary, where he can be cared for, but still live a semi-naturalistic life," he said. "There's not too many places that can offer him that, but we're hooked up with all the places that can."

There is a rescue effort by several groups underway, and Humane Long Island has offered to help with sanctuary placement.

But it's not a move that has been accepted, as the "birding community" is largely against the vibrant visitor getting captured, so the rescuers have been harassed, DiLeonardo said.

Chief Roy Gross, who leads the Suffolk Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which investigates animal abuse, said his staffers were on hand at the pond Friday to see that the rescue went smoothly.

The bird's appearance has resulted in visitors parking all over the street, upsetting neighbors, and some in the birding community to be at odds as it's debated whether it can survive in North America without intervention. To make a long story short, the Head of Harbor Police Department was called.

As of Friday night, it was agreed that a licensed wildlife rehabilitator would be able to access the pond upon producing credentials to the police. He also declined to name the rescue group.

"Hopefully, everything goes smoothly and they can do what they have to do," he said. "Because again, this duck is not from this area. The concern is if it was, if it lived here, came here on its own, most likely it could survive. But we don't know that somebody may have had it as a pet and abandoned it."

"Now, that duck is never going to survive because an animal that somebody had in there, that they nurtured themselves, and they kept it in their house, or wherever they had it, and they fed it, wouldn't have had to survive on its own, like any other animal, even an animal that's that is not indigenous," he added.

It's best to be on the safe side, according to Gross.

"If they could get it out and relocated to either a sanctuary or to an area where it could survive, that's great," he said. "That was our part."

DiLeonardo said he was hoping that news of the bird could be kept on the down-low before it became "a big circus" but appreciates media attention getting out the word that the duck needs to be rescued and to discourage anyone from harassing it.

"Because, I mean, if you love this guy, you know, if you care about this guy, you should want to see him have a happy ending," he said.