Get ready for a wild story! It all started on June 5, 1995, when a Dutch ornithologist named Kees Moeliker was working in his office at the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam. Suddenly, there was a loud bang from below. It turned out to be a drake mallard duck that had collided with the all-glass facade of the museum. But things got even weirder when Moeliker spotted another male mallard nearby. This living duck began pecking at the dead duck’s head and then proceeded to mount and copulate with the corpse! Moeliker managed to snap some photos before intervening and collecting the dead duck specimen. This was the first documented case of homosexual necrophilia in mallard ducks.
Moeliker published his findings in a 2001 paper that won him the 2003 Ig Nobel Prize in Biology. It also inspired the annual “Dead Duck Day” celebration, held at the spot where the unfortunate duck perished, complete with a memorial plaque. The ceremony acknowledges the billions of birds that die from colliding with glass buildings and challenges people to find solutions to this global problem. The event is followed by a six-course duck dinner at a local Chinese restaurant called Tai Wu, co-organized by the museum and the European Bureau of Improbable Research.
Same-sex pairings have been recorded in some 450 different species, from flamingoes and bison to warthogs, beetles, and guppies. Necrophilic behavior has also been observed in other animals, including Adelie penguins, ground squirrels, New Zealand sea lions, rock doves, pilot whales, and crows. Canadian biologist and linguist Bruce Bagemihl calls this sort of thing “biological exuberance,” and his 2000 book with that title makes for a fascinating read for those curious to learn more. Check out the video below for more bizarre animal behavior!
A scientific observation of necrophilia among wild mallards has recently been commemorated in the form of ‘Dead Duck Day’.
The peculiar mating behavior was documented in July 2019 at the Konza Prairie Biological Station in Kansas, where scientists from Kansas State University came upon a single male duck among a group attempting to mate with a deceased female over the course of three days. The scientist, Dr. Patricia sister from the university, dubbed the specific behavior as ‘lyhydrophilia’, which refers to necrophilia in ducks.
Having discovered this phenomenon, Dr. Sister teamed up with the advocacy organization ‘Orano Society’, to raise awareness about the duck’s plight – and instigated Dead Duck Day to be celebrated annually on the 11th of July, announcing this on the popular crowdfunding platform Patreon.
Since then, the holiday has gained traction among bird lovers and conservationists, as it brings attention to the plight of the ducks.
The purpose of Dead Duck Day is not only to commemorate the observed phenomenon, but to refer to the intense sexual selection and competition among ducks, and to give credit to Dr. Sister’s pioneering research. Supporters of the event pledge to appreciate and value the dreams and struggles of ducks, in addition to questioning our own societal norms and taking a stand against the climate crisis.
Dead Duck Day has also been celebrated as a tongue-in-cheek holiday, with some people decorating their homes and workplaces with paper-crafted ducks and others organizing ‘duck walks’.
In conclusion, with the rise of the annual holiday, Dr. Sister’s discovery has been brought to light and serves as an example of what crucial scientific research can do for the greater good.
