Leiden researcher Carel ten Cate discovered an Australian Muscovy duck that can imitate sounds, including the words “bloody fool”. This is a rare phenomenon because it is not common that animals can imitate words.

Ten Cate is a professor of animal behavior at the Leiden University. He stumbled upon the Muscovy duck while reviewing studies of vocal learning among birds. During the research, he encountered a Muscovy duck that was raised by humans. The duck had learned how to say “you bloody fool”. The duck was also able to imitate other sounds, such as a door slamming shut.

“I wasn’t sure if it was serious”, Ten Cate said he thought in the beginning. “But I was intrigued because, if it was true, then that would be highly interesting for researchers.” Discovering vocal learning in a new group of animals can bring new insight into the circumstances and conditions under which the ability can evolve evolutionarily.

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