愛污传媒

Lifestyle

    • 'You bloody fool': Duck mimics human sound during mating display

    A new study draws on recordings of a musk duck imitating human speech and a slamming door during courtship displays. (Nikolai Mulconray/Alamy Stock Photo) A new study draws on recordings of a musk duck imitating human speech and a slamming door during courtship displays. (Nikolai Mulconray/Alamy Stock Photo)
    Share

    An Australian musk duck has been recorded saying "You bloody fool" in the first documented instance of the species human speech.

    A hand-reared male named Ripper was recorded imitating the phrase during a courtship display, published Monday. The authors said he could have learned it from his caretaker.

    "The Australian musk duck demonstrates an unexpected and impressive ability for vocal learning," the study said. The report also details how Ripper imitated the sound of a door opening and closing.

    There are many species of ducks and geese that are bred in captivity, and there haven't been any reports of them showing an ability to mimic human sounds, study author Carel ten Cate told CNN on Tuesday.

    "It's quite exceptional then to come across a species which apparently has the ability to mimic these sounds," he said.

    Songbirds, parrots and hummingbirds are known to exhibit this vocal learning ability, but this is the first fully documented instance of musk ducks exhibiting vocal learning, said ten Cate, a researcher and professor of animal behavior at the Institute of Biology Leiden, at Leiden University, the Netherlands.

    "It's not exactly a human voice, but very voice like," he said. "It's mimicking quite well."

    Some species are better mimics than musk ducks, but there are many songbirds and parrots that are worse at copying, added ten Cate.

    Ripper was hand-reared at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, near Canberra, Australia, where the recordings were made in 1987 by now-retired ornithologist Peter J. Fullagar, who was formerly at the division of ecosystem sciences at The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

    While some observations of musk ducks mimicking human sounds were documented in Australian bird journals, they never made it to the scientific community that studies vocal learning, ten Cate explained.

    The recordings were made during displays to attract a mate that combine sounds and physical movements such as splashing in the water.

    In the recordings, Ripper appeared to imitate the sound of a door a few meters from the sink he was kept in for a few weeks after he was born, as well as what sounds like: "You bloody foo."

    The last word could be either "fool" or "food," ten Cate said.

    "It's in the ear of the beholder so to speak," he said, explaining that it was likely a phrase Ripper heard repeatedly from his caretaker.

    In a separate recording made in 2000, a second male duck at Tidbinbilla appears to imitate a Pacific black duck.

    Musk ducks live in two separate areas in western and southeastern Australia, according to the study. These birds are rarely bred in captivity due to the fact that mature males are prone to attacking other waterfowl.

    The study also details two other instances of captive musk ducks imitating sounds in their environment, but the birds were not recorded, and therefore the observations not independently confirmed.

    Wild musk ducks are unlikely to imitate human sounds, ten Cate said.

    "If you only recorded these animals in the field you wouldn't realize that they were actually vocal learners and imitating one another, it's just when they are reared under these special conditions," he said.

    The in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    Canada

    • U.S. authorities earlier this year knew the whereabouts of a former Canadian Olympian who is now on the run for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking ring and orchestrating murders in Ontario, according to Ontario court documents.

    • Voting officials say recounts in two ridings that could determine the outcome of British Columbia's election won't start until Sunday afternoon 鈥 and it won't be until Monday before the makeup of the legislature is finalized.

    • Montreal police say four teenagers suffered stab wounds after an altercation near John F. Kennedy High School in the Villeray鈥擲aint-Michel鈥擯arc-Extension borough.

    • The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    • A new organization that aims to help people struggling with addiction officially launched in Ottawa Thursday, named after the late Matthew Perry.

    Business

    • It's a dream for many Canadians, trying to save up enough money for a down payment on their very first home. That was also the dream for the Esmeralda family, a family of five with two dogs who currently live in a Scarborough apartment building.

    Lifestyle

    • A Toronto man who only recently checked a Lotto 6/49 lottery ticket he bought back in June is now $2.5 million richer.

    • A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

    Sports

    Autos

    Local Spotlight

    A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

    Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.

    He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

    A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.

    Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

    A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

    A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.

    A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.

    Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.

    • With the final results of the B.C. election still pending, speculation is rampant about what concessions the Greens might ask for to prop up a potential NDP minority 鈥 and it could be a common philosophy about health care that ultimately helps forge an alliance.

    • Crews removed approximately 50 tonnes of "fatbergs" from the sewer system in Richmond, B.C., earlier this month, according to Metro Vancouver.

    • The Canadian government's plan to reduce the number of immigrants entering the country could impact B.C.'s housing affordability.

    • An infant has died and a woman is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after they were pulled from a burning home in the city's west end overnight.

    • U.S. authorities earlier this year knew the whereabouts of a former Canadian Olympian who is now on the run for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking ring and orchestrating murders in Ontario, according to Ontario court documents.

    • Alberta's government and meat producers worry a bill about preventing and preparing for future pandemics could be harmful to the agriculture industry.

    • A Calgary business owner is frustrated and looking for answers after Google removed his business' profile without warning, resulting in a loss of bookings and damage to his company鈥檚 reputation.

    • The Carolina Hurricanes handed the Calgary Flames their first loss in regulation this season with Thursday's 4-2 victory at the Saddledome.

    • Hundreds of OC Transpo bus trips have been cancelled this week due to a 鈥渄ecrease in fleet availability and increased congestion鈥 on Ottawa鈥檚 roads, according to the transit service.

    • The Ottawa Police Service has identified the woman who was stabbed to death at Paul Landry Park on Uplands Drive Thursday morning.

    • NEW THIS MORNING

      NEW THIS MORNING

      CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at things to do in Ottawa and eastern Ontario this weekend.

    • Montreal police say four teenagers suffered stab wounds after an altercation near John F. Kennedy High School in the Villeray鈥擲aint-Michel鈥擯arc-Extension borough.

    • A new tree-planting pilot project in Plateau-Mont-Royal is drawing criticism for eliminating parking spaces in a borough already facing limited parking, as well as for its cost.

    • October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and on Thursday the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation held a brunch in downtown Montreal featuring a special guest: Matthew Knowles.

    • Some Edmonton public school support staff walked off the job Thursday morning, after the province stepped in on Wednesday to prevent strike action.

    • The man who cut up the body of his grandson's mother is going to prison after the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned his previous sentence.

    • The City of Edmonton says staying proactive has helped keep its 90,000 elm trees relatively untouched by the devastating Dutch elm disease (DED).

    • The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.

    • WorkSafeNB is investigating after a man was killed in a workplace incident at a tire shop in Moncton, N.B., last week.

    • The Nova Scotia Liberals are accusing former member Fred Tilley of accessing party files one day before he crossed the aisle to join the Progressive Conservatives.

    • The Manitoba man who brutally murdered his partner and two young children stood in court, voice wavering, and apologized for his actions that ended the lives of three people he said he loved very much.

    • A pair of councillors in the RM of Springfield plan on bringing forward a motion to opt out of Plan 20-50 when they are first able to.

    • A Winnipeg teenager has been charged with multiple offences after a stolen car crashed in St. Boniface Thursday morning.

    • After two days of advance polls, more than 119,000 people have already cast a ballot in-person for the 2024 Saskatchewan election.

    • A man is dead and two other people were injured in a two vehicle collision north of Regina on Wednesday evening.

    • Regina police says a reward of up to $50,000 is available for information that leads to the arrest of Daniel 'Juma' Drie Atem, who officers say is responsible for a murder that occurred downtown in the summer of 2023.

    • Fire crews responded to a house fire in St. Clements Thursday night.

    • Erick Buhr, the man on trial for second-degree murder in the death of his grandmother Viola Erb, took the stand Thursday to testify in his own defense.

    • A Kitchener man has been charged with arson after playground equipment was set on fire earlier this week.

    • The Saskatchewan RCMP is calling off its dangerous persons alert after two people were arrested in the Tobin Lake area Thursday afternoon.

    • A former tire recycling company in Saskatoon is announcing additional layoffs months after a dispute with the provincial government.

    • Saskatoon police are investigating a series of suspicious fires that were lit in the Mayfair neighbourhood on Thursday morning.

    • The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.

    • The Gathering Place board chair Peter Gregory is vowing to fight to keep the doors to the Cassells Street soup kitchen open after the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board denied their six-figure funding request.

    • Greater Sudbury Police have released a photo of a person they say escaped by driving their motor vehicle on a sidewalk past pedestrians and then the wrong way down a one-way street.

    • London police are asking for the public鈥檚 help identifying a suspect involved in a robbery on Sunday.

    • Eighteen months after the closure of the London Health Sciences Centre鈥檚 (LHSC) fertility clinic, its replacement is now fully operational.

    • The London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI) has released findings on their study looking into mood and anxiety disorders in young adults.

    • The cost of living is increasing, from groceries to gas, prices are consistently going up, and now there鈥檚 controversy surrounding paying for parking at hospitals.

    • A haunted house in the Ontario Town of Innisfil is causing a real scare for some people a week before Halloween.

    • Emergency crews were called to attend a fire that broke out in a grassy area in Barrie on Thursday morning.

    • Issues include benefits, wages, working conditions, contracting out/work ownership and getting union representation for staff.

    • Liam Greentree, Ethan Garden, Ilya Protas and Noah Morneau also tallied for Windsor.

    • Windsor鈥檚 first Night Light Walk raised $50,302 on Thursday night, with more than 200 participants walking to support awareness of intimate partner violence (IPV).

    • As the RCMP prepare to strap cameras to the chests of front-line police officers, an expert warns they might not work 鈥 at least, not in the way some had hoped.

    • Mounties on Vancouver Island are investigating after a set of popular driftwood sculptures was reportedly stolen last week.

    • Voting officials say recounts in two ridings that could determine the outcome of British Columbia's election won't start until Sunday afternoon 鈥 and it won't be until Monday before the makeup of the legislature is finalized.

    • Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.

    • A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.

    • Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.

    • The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass deserves a better shot at becoming a significant tourism hub than the UCP government is giving it, an NDP shadow minister said as the southeastern Alberta community gears up for a coal mining plebiscite.

    • A three-game road trip across the prairies got off on a sour note Wednesday night as the Medicine Hat Tigers defeated the Calgary Hitmen 4-2.

    • A town in southern Alberta will be one of the first to let golf carts be driven on select roads as part of a provincial pilot program.

    • A critical piece of the Sault鈥檚 homeless outreach strategy is almost ready to hit the road.

    • Police seized drugs, $70,000 and a large gold chain in a drug trafficking bust earlier this month in Thunder Bay.

    • An annual event held in Sault Ste. Marie is back for the 29th year to ensure local kids get the winter clothing they need as the temperature dips.

    N.L.

    Shopping Trends

    The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at 愛污传媒. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop.聽Read about us.

    Stay Connected
    Follow 愛污传媒