musk duck

American  

noun

1. Muscovy duck.

2. an Australian duck, Biziura lobata, having a musky odor.

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musk duck British  

noun

1. another name for Muscovy duck

2. a duck, Biziura lobata, inhabiting swamps, lakes, and streams in Australia. The male has a leathery pouch beneath the bill and emits a musky odour

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Etymology

Origin of musk duck

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

Australian birds aren’t exactly known for their use of “fowl” language, but thanks to a musk duck named Ripper and the discovery of a 35-year-old recording, that might be about to change.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 7, 2021

Prof ten Cate had been researching vocal learning in birds when he came across a mysterious reference to a talking musk duck who could imitate other sounds, such as a slamming door.

From BBC • Sep. 7, 2021

During his research he stumbled across a recording from the summer of 1987, which appeared to capture the male musk duck swearing repeatedly and mimicking the sound of a closing door.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 7, 2021

Again more mullet—big fellows these—with yellow, prehensile mouths, which protrude and withdraw as they swim, and are fitted with a straining apparatus of bristles, like those on the mandibles of a musk duck.

From The Colonial Mortuary Bard; "'Reo," The Fisherman; and The Black Bream Of Australia 1901 by Becke, Louis

That's a musk duck: the plumage is very sombre and loose looking—not so thick as most other ducks; the tail, too, is singular, little more than a small fan of short quills.

From Austral English A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia by Morris, Edward Ellis