A beautiful and majestic-looking mandarin duck named Eddie briefly escaped from his owner's farm earlier this month and spent some time in Newmarket, and now the town's city council has officially declared him the "Honorary Duck of Newmarket."

The mandarin duck, which is widely regarded as the world's most beautiful duck according to Living with Birds, is known for its vibrant purple, white, blue, and orange colouring, so it's no surprise that Newmarket residents flocked to Fairy Lake Park to catch a glimpse of the bird as he travelled down the river. 

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But while he may be a beautiful sight to behold, the Town of Newmarket had to ask residents not to feed or touch Eddie as they tried to reunite him with owner Tracey Harpley. 

"Still at large, please do not feed Eddie and keep your distance as efforts are made to reunite him with his owners," they wrote on Instagram roughly a week ago. 

"The Town urges residents to avoid flocking to Fairy Lake for a glimpse of Eddie and reminds onlookers to follow physical distancing guidelines by staying 6ft apart."

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Still, he brought joy to every passerby who just happened to see him floating along the river. And now that he's back where he belongs, the town is honouring him with a symbolic title.

"It was unanimous at Council yesterday: Eddie has been officially declared Honorary Duck of Newmarket!" reads a social media statement published Tuesday. 

"The mandarin duck made national headlines recently as he brought many smiles to the community after escaping from his rescue home for a short vacation on Fairy Lake. While Eddie is now safely back home, he will remain in our hearts forever as an honorary duck of Newmarket!"