Q 01/05

How do a duck's feet stay on ice all day without draining its body heat?

A) They contain no blood

B) Arteries warm the veins

C) Fat pads the soles

D) Webbing traps warm air

Answer · why

B) Arteries warm the veins

Arteries warm the veins: the vessels run side by side in the leg, so blood heading out hands its heat to blood coming back. The feet run cold, but lit...

Q 02/05

What is a common collective noun for a group of ducks, especially when they are on the water?

A) Swarm

B) Gaggle

C) Raft

D) Herd

Answer · why

C) Raft

Ducks on the water are a raft, a paddling or a bunch; on land the same birds become a badling, a brace or a safe.

Q 03/05

What makes up most of the food a dabbling duck like the mallard strains from the water?

A) Grasses and aquatic plants

B) Small fish and tadpoles

C) Frogs and newts

D) Crayfish and mussels

Answer · why

A) Grasses and aquatic plants

Grasses and aquatic plants are the staple: the bird takes in a billful and squirts the water out through a comb-like edge along the bill, which traps ...

Q 04/05

Which duck's drake sports a pair of orange 'sail' feathers on its back?

A) Mallard

B) Mandarin Duck

C) Muscovy Duck

D) Wood Duck

Answer · why

B) Mandarin Duck

The Mandarin Duck drake's orange 'sails' are enlarged wing feathers that stand upright; birds that escaped from captivity have founded a wild populati...

Q 05/05

A long-running myth, tested in a University of Salford sound lab in 2003, claimed a duck's quack never produces what?

A) A ripple

B) An overtone

C) An echo

D) A vibration

Answer · why

C) An echo

An echo does follow a quack: acoustics professor Trevor Cox recorded a duck named Daisy in an echo-free room and a reverberation chamber, and conclude...