17.12.10

You Quackin' At Me?

Going to try and make a short one today.

Male ducks don't quack. Thank you, and have a great day!

Buh-bye!



Alright, it's not that easy, although I wish it was. Whether they quack or not depends entirely on your definitions.

If you're a jerk, you say that there's no more a male duck than there is a male cow. A male duck is a properly called a drake while only the females are called ducks. Since there are no male ducks, they can't quack.

If you're like me, and define a quack as the sound a duck makes, then yes, they quack.

If you define it more narrowly as the stereotypical sound we associate with ducks quacking, then it becomes more complicated. In general, no, drakes don't make that quacking sound, although I'm sure there are exceptions to that generalization. They coo, they hiss, they whistle and some are said to 'yodel'. I'm not sure what a yodeling duck sounds like, and I'm not sure I want to. Even in the species where the male is said to quack, their quack is usually very different than the female's; usually it's much quieter and/or raspier, almost as if they're whispering their quack.

Here's a clip of Mallard vocalizations, and I think it's pretty clear which one is the male.

Figuring out a duck's gender: Much easier if you just shut up and listen.


Sources:
Mallard sound clip from U.S. National Park Service of Mississippi
Mallard image taken from KenyaBirds.org.uk
Majestic Waterfowl Sanctuary article on determining the sex of a duck
Wikipedia article on ducks
Wikipedia article on Pekin ducks
Snopes.com article on whether a duck's quack echoes
Answers.com response to 'Do male or female ducks quack?'
LiveDucks.com Duck FAQ
Squidoo.com article on Mallards

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