So yesterday someone who grew up on a farm told me that when you chop the head off a goose, the body doesn’t just run around (like a chicken with its head cut off!) - it also makes honking noises, because the voice box is deep down in its neck.

This was a new and exciting piece of information, and I was all set to pass it along as fact. But ever since I found out that this was faked, I have felt the need to verify things. I went for a google, and found Unpacking "Honesty": Vertebrate Vocal Production and the Evolution of Acoustic Signals by W. Tecumseh Fitch and Marc D. Hauser. It reads, in part:

In terrestrial vertebrates, vocalizations are initially generated by a structure which converts air flow from the lungs (or air sacs) into acoustic energy. This structure is known as the acoustic source, or voice source, and its anatomical location varies among tetrapods (Fig. 1). In amphibians, reptiles and mammals, the source is typically the larynx. In birds, an evolutionarily novel structure called the syrinx serves as the voice source. In both cases, the source contains mobile elastic structures which act as mechanical vibrators, and can reduce or stop the passage of air though the source by constricting its lumen....

The main acoustic difference between the larynx and syrinx is their location: the larynx is located at the top of the trachea, while the syrinx is located at its base. Although birds also possess a larynx, there is little evidence that the avian larynx is used as a sound-producing source (see White 1968 for a possible exception).

In other words, if you chop the head of a goose, the body can still make honking noises because the voice box is deep down in its neck.

"Syrinx" is a great word, and also a nymph.