Months ago, New Yorkers rolled over themselves about a rare Mandarin duck spotted in a pond in Central Park.
The bird is very rarely seen in North America and is native to East Asia, which is a fair flight away from the hustle and bustle of NYC. Regardless, it certainly grabbed the media's attention.
Videos and photos of the duck — believed to be the escaped pet of someone living in the city — began circulating in November last year and prompted quite the swarm of excitement.
Intrepid NYC-based BuzzFeed reporters Erin Chack and Joanna Borns ventured to Central Park to find the duck and confirmed 1) it existed, and 2) the duck was hot.
Well, it's a few months later and Australia now has its own rare duck, living in the probably lovely and picturesque sewage ponds at Werribee in Victoria.
The rare tufted duck, not seen before in Australia, has been dubbed "goth duck".
Is this not the coolest duck you've ever seen? 😎 We think he should be called Danny Zuko. The Victorian #birdwatching community have spotted a Tufted Duck at our #WesternTreatmentPlant & it's the first ever sighting in Australia! Have you been bird watching @ WTP? 📸 Steve Young
Goth Duck! https://t.co/UH6rzV4g3O
goth duck > mandarin duck and it’s not even close https://t.co/VJnT6zS5aK
Australia’s hot duck has black feathers, a black mohawk, and bright yellow eyes that say “danger” https://t.co/jdFdf8gLSv
Birdwatchers are apparently flocking (hehe) to see the goth duck, with some traveling as far as 850km to see the Eurasian bird drift around a sewage treatment centre. Romantic!
Sean Dooley, editor of Birdlife Australia, told The Australian the duck's arrival was "a pretty big deal".
"Most likely something's gone wrong with its internal GPS and it's just kept going south," he said.
"For whatever reason and it’s just kept coming south and it's found its way to the Werribee sewage farm."
And while the crowds may not be as big as the ones in New York, there's still quite a bit of interest drumming up for Australia's latest goth star.
Talking about that celebrity duck at Werribee again on @abcmelbourne in a few minutes. Photo is of the paparazzi scrum awaiting a photo opp with the ‘diva’ duck.