Scientists have added ducks to the list of animals which can learn to mimic humans after they discovered an Aussie one which shouted the phrase: "You bloody fool".

The Australian musk duck called Ripper was hand reared on a nature reserve and learned to repeat the sentence which was often uttered by its keeper.

The male duck was especially fond of uttering the catchphrase while mating - and also learned to replicate the sound of the aviary doors opening and shutting.

The talking duck from Canberra, who lived more than 30 years ago, is believed to be the first documented account of a duck mimicking human speech.

The study was published in the most recent journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

The paper states: "The structure of the duck vocalizations indicates a quite sophisticated and flexible control over the vocal production mechanism."

Carel Ten Cate at Leiden University in the Netherlands heard about the talking duck, so tracked down now-retired Australian scientist Peter J. Fullagar, who first noticed its mimicry 30 years ago.

He shared his recordings of Ripper, made in the 1980s, for the recent study.

The professor of animal behaviour used software to confirm the birds were repeating noises from their environment.

In some cases the sounds had only been heard in the first weeks of life.

The "You bloody fool!", and a clip of him mimicking the aviary door being opened and closed, were both recorded during Ripper's mating displays.

He would make these sounds in a repetitive series, just as he would the 'whistle-kick' normally learnt from his flock, to attract a mate.

The paper explains: "The whistle-kick consists of a non-vocal splash component produced by the feet hitting the water, followed by two distinct vocal components: a soft low-frequency sound followed by a much louder whistle."

Another case was reported from 2000 at the same Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve of a male duck imitating the quacks of the Pacific black ducks he lived near during his mating display.

The large, grey water birds usually use their talents to learn the high-pitched whistles from their older flock mates, but those in captivity demonstrate human sounds like doors closing and even phrases, according to the study.

This means they learn 'utterances' based on what they hear as infants.

Other species that learn this way include parrots, budgies, hummingbirds, certain songbirds, whales, seals, bats, elephants and humans.