It concerns the Australian Muscovy duck that can intimidate sounds, says Carel ten Cate, professor of animal behavior at Leiden University. He came across the animal by accident. “When I heard it, I doubted whether it was serious,” says Ten Cate.
Talking animals
The animal could not only say ‘you bloody fool’, but also imitate the sound of a slamming door. This is special, because the ability to mimic sounds is not very common in the animal kingdom. Humans are capable of this so-called ‘vocal learning’ (and thus learn to talk), just like whales, dolphins, elephants and bats.
A number of bird species, such as parrots, songbirds and hummingbirds, have also been known to learn vocal.
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Raised by humans
The animal is said to have been raised by humans and Ten Cate tracked down sound fragments of the ‘talking’ Muscovy duck. They turned out to be images from 1987 taken by an Australian birdwatcher. After analysis, Ten Cate concluded that the level at which the Muscovy duck can mimic sounds is comparable to that of other imitating bird species.
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If vocal learning is discovered in a new group, it sheds new light on the circumstances and conditions under which the ability can evolve evolutionarily, explains the professor.
Duck brains deviate
“Ducks split off from other bird species early on and are therefore considered ‘primitive’,” says Ten Cate. “Vocal learning is an advanced skill. That makes the finding surprising, also because duck brains differ quite a bit in structure from, for example, songbirds and parrots. That also raises all new questions.”
Listen to the fragment here:
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