a male musk duck swimming
Talking Duck Stuns Animal Behavior Researcher
Leiden University’s Carel ten Cate tracked down 34-year-old duck recordings—and the man who made them—to verify that musk ducks are capable of vocal learning, an ability that hadn’t been thought to exist in waterfowl.
Talking Duck Stuns Animal Behavior Researcher
Talking Duck Stuns Animal Behavior Researcher

Leiden University’s Carel ten Cate tracked down 34-year-old duck recordings—and the man who made them—to verify that musk ducks are capable of vocal learning, an ability that hadn’t been thought to exist in waterfowl.

Leiden University’s Carel ten Cate tracked down 34-year-old duck recordings—and the man who made them—to verify that musk ducks are capable of vocal learning, an ability that hadn’t been thought to exist in waterfowl.

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mole-rat, naked mole-rat, animal behavior, social behavior, dialect, language, eusocial, evolution,
Naked Mole Rat Colonies Have Their Own Unique Dialects
Amanda Heidt | Feb 4, 2021 | 5+ min read
Chirp dialects appear to be enforced by the colony’s queen, but scientists aren’t sure how. 
seal talking vocalization singing Star Wars twinkle little star teach human sound song melody melodies
Image of the Day: Vocal Tracks
Chia-Yi Hou | Jun 25, 2019 | 1 min read
Hear seals imitating human sounds and melodies.
Image of the Day: Watch and Learn
Carolyn Wilke | Feb 25, 2019 | 1 min read
Young zebra finches that receive feedback after they sing from a video of a fluffed-up female eventually develop more accurate tunes.
Study: Ducklings Can Think Abstractly
Alison F. Takemura | Jul 17, 2016 | 1 min read
When imprinted on toy blocks, the young birds gravitate toward new toys that are the same shape or color as the originals, according to a study.
Neuroscience of Early-Life Learning in C. elegans
Uri Bram | Feb 11, 2016 | 3 min read
Scientists identify the brain circuits with which newly hatched nematodes form and retrieve a lifelong aversive olfactory memory.
Behavior Brief
Rina Shaikh-Lesko | Apr 28, 2014 | 4 min read
A round-up of recent discoveries in behavior research