Researchers Say That Ducks Have Individual Accents [View All]

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TO the untutored ear it might just sound like a load of quacking, but British researchers have discovered that the country's ducks, much like its people, have distinct regional accents.

Ducks from London make a rougher sound which resembles shouting so that fellow birds can hear them above the hubbub of city life, whereas their country cousins make a softer sound, the study found.

The differences were uncovered after academics at London's Middlesex University recorded the calls of ducks at a city farm in the capital and at a tranquil location in Cornwall, southwest England, the Guardian reported.

There was a clear difference in sound, English language lecturer Victoria de Rijke told the paper, with the London ducks "much louder and (more) vocally excitable".

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9743255%255E13762,00.html