Today is publication day for the German edition of Kees Moeliker’s Tell-All-About-The-Duck book. As you probably know, Kees was awarded the 2003 Ig Nobel Prize for biology, for his research study “The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard Anas platyrhynchos.” This nifty video shows Kees gamely talking about it in German, rather than […]
Tag: homosexual necrophilia
Dead Duck Day 2017, in pictures
The 22nd edition of Dead Duck Day, honoring the mallard duck that became known to science as the first (documented) ‘victim’ of homosexual necrophilia in that species, on June 5th, 2017 attracted 85 spectators, a record number since 1996. Right outside the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam, the ceremony included (1) the first posthumous public […]
It was 20 years ago today. Sergeant Pepper taught the… No. The duck.
It was 20 years ago today, Sergeant Pepper taught the band to— No. That’s not what happened. What happened 20 years ago today is that a duck died, in spectacular fashion, and a scientist noticed how it happened, and took notes and photos to commemorate the discovery. Today, Friday June 5th, 2015 is the 20th […]
Join the 20th Dead Duck Day: June 5th
Friday June 5th, 2015 is the 20th edition of Dead Duck Day, arriving precisely one year after last year’s Dead Duck Day. At exactly 17:55 h [Rotterdam time] we will honor the mallard duck that became known to science as the first (documented) ‘victim’ of homosexual necrophilia in that species, and earned its discoverer the 2003 […]
Farewell, Robert W. Dickerman, the biologist who coined ‘Davian Behavior’
Sad news. ‘Ornithology Exchange’ reported the death of Dr. Robert W. Dickerman (1926). Dickerman was the biologist who gave necrophilia a good name. Chiefly known as a specimen-based ornithologist and tireless collector of scientific specimens, Bob Dickerman has enriched the collections of natural history museums, from Alaska to New Mexico, and described dozens of new […]
The Homosexual Necrophiliac Duck Opera
The Ig Nobel Tour of Europe will kick off Friday, March 14th at Imperial College London. That night’s show will include the world premiere of “The Homosexual Necrophiliac Duck Opera” by composer Daniel Gillingwater. My now classic 2003 Ig Nobel Prize winning paper (with about the same title as the opera) has made some people […]
Today is Dead Duck Day
On June 5, 1995, at 5.55 pm, a mallard duck slammed into the window of the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam, the first big step on its journey into history. I, Kees Moeliker, the museum’s curator, subsequently published the first scientifically recorded description of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck (click here for PDF). The […]
Tomorrow—June 5—is Dead Duck Day
Tomorrow, June 5th, is Dead Duck Day. Exactly at 17.55h, we will gather next to the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Click here for more information (and here for those who master the Dutch Language) about this commemoration of the incident that became the first scientifically recorded case of homosexual necrophilia in the […]
It is almost Dead Duck Day
Dead Duck Day — June 5th — is coming. The short, open-air ceremony next to the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam is open free to the public, including ducks. Please note the day in your diary. Dead Duck Day commemorates the sudden and dramatic death of the mallard duck that entered the scientific literature as […]
Dead ducks and pubic lice at the TED talks
Today in Rotterdam, Improbable Research European Bureau Chief (and Ig Nobel Prize winner) Kees Moeliker discussed (while battling a head cold) his research on homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck, the decline of pubic lice, and other remarkable animal behavior. This was at TEDxRotterdam. Here’s video of the talk: