Duck's Quack?  Is it true that a duck's quack does not echo?
927613
False -- proven at first link, commented on at second link:\n\n"The winner (so far) of the Most Ludicrous Entry contest is the claim that a duck's quack doesn't echo. Unfortunately, it's also the item we're most frequently asked about. The premise is just silly: a duck's quack (and presumably, of all the sounds known to man, only a duck's quack) has some special sonic property that causes it not to echo. We're not talking about a situation where a landform creates an acoustic shadow (a phenomenon under which even loud sounds can be inaudible to nearby listeners), but the claim that a duck's quack doesn't echo under any conditions. "\n\nRead further at links below of more information. Or, just search on any engine with "duck quack echo" and find LOTS more sites to have fun with.
328283
I bet I have seen more platypus than the lot of you put together and i have never heard any noise apart from the gentle splash as they duck (no pun intended) beneath the surface. However, if you were to be stung by a male platypus in the breeding season you would make a LOT of noise. They are the most venomous mammals in the world.
833531
Here's all I could find ... maybe it can get you started?\n\nWhite Stork - a silent bird - White Storks hardly ever give voice. In the world of birds it is an uncommon situation.  Stork’s lower larynx – birds’ vocal organ – is so retarded in development that it does not produce sounds.\n\nhttp://birds.poland.pl/didyou/article,White_Stork_a_silent_bird,id,95312.htm
323353
Duck test.\n\nIf it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck-it's a duck.
823452
It used to be thought that if you drank water from a pond that had frogspawn in, a frog could live and hatch out in your throat, which naturally would block your voice. Quacksalvers (that's the traditional English equivalent of snake oil merchants) used to have a scam whereby the quack's stooge used to pretend to be so afflicted; the quack would administer his medicine, lo and behold the stooge would cough up a live frog and "regain his voice", and all the gullible peasants would buy this wonderful cure. For this reason, an obstruction in the throat is known as a "frog".
785887
All the others have good academic answers. Mine is a bit different: \nAmuck: I am running amuck, this is amucked up mess, and muck it, this will never clean up as in amucked up duck. \nHave a great evening and try not to quack up over night.\nChuckie Amuckie
755531
According to the rhyming dictionary, no.\n\nIt does have some suggestions for similar sounds.
264442
Hi,\nI dont think so... Ducks are amphibians (I think). That means they can live both on land and water. But they are primarily land creatures. I mean they cant go swimming forever can they?\nDucks can be found on small lakes too. Not neccessarily marshes.\nNo, I dont think all rivers have marshes. There is a river here in our town. It doesnt have marshes...
563037
If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it must be a duck!
632971
No, but it probably feels vibrations, which is kinda like hearing.  Snakes don't have ears, but they "hear" vibrations.
663644
If it walks like a duck talks like a duck is's a duck!\n\nI say yes just take a look around you see the invasion of our country all over the place. Good Americans must speake out often and loud on this very serious problem!
1142644
maybe cartoon duck penis only comes out when its wet. don't question disney biology. that sh*t is foolproof.
1046560
No.\n\nCarry a hedgehog as well. That ought to do it.
757499
Its a marsh bird, in the rail family rallidae, people often mistake it for a duck as it is able to swim like a duck (duck family is anseridae). Coots lack webbing  but instead they have lobed toes which helps them padle along. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Coot_dtl.html
625869
Turkeys are not suited for water, although ducks are suited for water.\n\nDucks are balanced to rest on water.\nTurkeys are not.\nDucks have webbed feet.\nTurkeys do not have webbed feet, therefore can not propell themselves as gracefully as a duck.
987405
Yes, and this question has been asked before. Therefore, I'l quote myself:\n\n"Of course they have. But you'll never see the knees of any bird because their femora are relatively short and situated within their bodies. The joint that you normally see in a bird's legs is the equivalent to our ankle (although not formed exactly by the same bones); you'll notice that it articulates backwards. Next time you eat chicken, see if you can find the knee ;) \n\nHere's a good illustration:\nhttp://biodidac.bio.uottawa.ca/ftp/BIODIDAC/ZOO/VERTEBRA/DIAGBW/AVES029B.GIF "
97410
Yes. \nFishes only have internal ear, that is to say, no opening to the body surface and no tympanic membrane, but the vibrations (sound waves) are transmited from the water to the inner ear through the body tissues. Sound travels really well inside the water, even if we (with our land-adapted hearing system) cannot hear much of it. \nIn addition, some groups of freshwater fishes have a special system that enhances sound hearing. This is called "Webberian apparatus" and consists of a chain of small ossicles (derived from the first trunk vertebrae) that are situated between the swimming bladder and the internal ear. Thus, when sound waves contact the swimming bladder (which acts like the membrane of a drum), it is amplified and transmitted to the inner ear by means of the vibration of these small bones. The fishes that possess this system (known collectively as "ostariophysean" (Ostariophysi) include well-known species such as catfish, tetras and characins, carps, and the electric eel. \n\nBirds, as all tetrapods, _do_ have a middle ear, but with only one ossicle (we mammals have three). They don't have external ears, but they have a short external auditory meatus (duct) so the tympanic membrane is not on the surface (as in frogs). Sound makes the tympanum vibrate, this vibration is transmitted through the ossicle (columella auris) and goes to the inner ear.