Ducks Saved, Spokane, Washington, United States

Despite widespread misconceptions, only the females of most dabbling ducks "quack". For example, the scaup – which are diving ducks – make a noise like "scaup" (hence their name), and even among the dabbling ducks, the males never quack. In general, ducks make a wide range of calls, ranging from whistles cooing, yodels and grunts. Calls may be loud displaying calls or quieter contact calls.
A common urban legend claims that duck quacks do not echo; however, this has been shown to be false. This myth was first debunked by the Acoustics Research Centre at the University of Salford in 2003 as part of the British Association's Festival of Science. It was also debunked in one of the earlier episodes of the popular Discovery Channel television show MythBusters.