Monday June 5th, 2017 is the 22nd edition of Dead Duck Day. At exactly 17:55 h 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 (me) the 2003 Ig Nobel Biology Prize.
Dead Duck Day also commemorates the billions of other birds that die(d) from colliding with glass buildings, and challenges people to find solutions to this global problem.
Please join the free, short open-air ceremony next to the new wing of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam (the Netherlands), right below the new Dead Duck Memorial Plaque — the very spot where that duck (now museum specimen NMR 9989-00232) met his dramatic end.
This is what will happen: [not necessarily in this sequence]
- The traditional Ten Seconds of Silence.
- News about prevention of bird-glass collisions.
- Review of this year’s (animal) necrophilia news: the world’s second officially homosexual necrophiliac duck will make his first posthumous public appearance. [Some people have been waiting 22 years for this moment]
![omslag Een meerkoet in mijn oog 1aug.indd]()
The special ‘Dead Duck Day Message’, this year delivered in person by Henk Wolf who was hit in the eye by an Eurasian coot (Fulica atra) and who wrote the book ‘Een meerkoet in mijn oog‘ [A coot in my eye] about the dramatic consequences.- Celebration of the re-issue of the book ‘De eendenman’ [The duck guy] in the tiny but handy Dwarsligger® format.
- Performance by the Moldavian poet Dumitru Crudu, poet-in-residence of the 48th Poetry International Festival Rotterdam.
- Dead Duck Day Fashion Show: some fine specimens of the first batch of t-shirts, designed by Mark Prinsen, will be displayed (and are for sale).
- A six-course duck dinner, after the ceremony.
The special ‘Dead Duck Day Message’, this year delivered in person by The traditional six-course (dead) duck dinner at the famous Tai Wu Restaurant is also open to the public (at your own expense). Reserve your seat by e-mailing to: info [at] hetnatuurhistorisch.nl
More on (the history of) Dead Duck Day: here. And for our Dutch readers: here.
Dead Duck Day 2016: introduction of the Dead Duck Day Fashion Line. (photo Maarten Laupman)
Dead Duck Day 2016 also featured a dead rabbit. (photo Maarten Laupman)
The Duck and left overs of the Dead Duck Dinner in 2016. (photo Maarten Laupman)
