Hill Evan M
Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Kearney, Kearney, NE, 68849, USA.
J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2017 Nov;203(11):929-934. doi: 10.1007/s00359-017-1204-6. Epub 2017 Aug 14.
The pure-tone thresholds of three mallard ducks were determined from 16 Hz to 9 kHz. The purpose was to determine whether the mallard duck hears infrasound, which then may potentially be used for navigation, similar to how it is proposed that pigeons use it for homing. At a level of 60 dB sound pressure level (re 20 μN/m), their hearing range extends 6.85 octaves from 66 Hz to 7.6 kHz, with a best sensitivity of 12.5 dB at 2 kHz. However, at no frequency, including the lowest tested, were the ducks' thresholds lower than those of humans. Therefore, unlike pigeons and chickens, but like budgerigars, mallard ducks do not hear infrasound. Thus, the fact that a bird may fly long distances does not necessarily indicate that it hears infrasound.
测定了三只绿头鸭从16赫兹到9千赫兹的纯音听阈。目的是确定绿头鸭是否能听到次声，次声随后可能被用于导航，类似于有人提出鸽子利用次声归巢的方式。在60分贝声压级（参考20微牛/平方米）的水平下，它们的听力范围从66赫兹到7.6千赫兹延伸了6.85个八度，在2千赫兹时最佳灵敏度为12.5分贝。然而，在任何频率下，包括测试的最低频率，鸭子的听阈都不低于人类。因此，与鸽子和鸡不同，但与虎皮鹦鹉一样，绿头鸭听不到次声。所以，鸟类可能远距离飞行这一事实并不一定表明它能听到次声。
