What do you think?
Rate this book
Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality
This groundbreaking illustrated YA nonfiction title from two-time National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Eliot Schrefer is a well-researched and teen-friendly exploration of the gamut of queer behaviors observed in animals.
A quiet revolution has been underway in recent years, with study after study revealing substantial same-sex sexual behavior in animals. Join celebrated author Eliot Schrefer on an exploration of queer behavior in the animal world--from albatrosses to bonobos to clownfish to doodlebugs.
In sharp and witty prose--aided by humorous comics from artist Jules Zuckerberg--Schrefer uses science, history, anthropology, and sociology to illustrate the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal world. Interviews with researchers in the field offer additional insights for readers and aspiring scientists.
Queer behavior in animals is as diverse and complex--and as natural--as it is in our own species. It doesn't set us apart from animals--it bonds us even closer to our animal selves.
A quiet revolution has been underway in recent years, with study after study revealing substantial same-sex sexual behavior in animals. Join celebrated author Eliot Schrefer on an exploration of queer behavior in the animal world--from albatrosses to bonobos to clownfish to doodlebugs.
In sharp and witty prose--aided by humorous comics from artist Jules Zuckerberg--Schrefer uses science, history, anthropology, and sociology to illustrate the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal world. Interviews with researchers in the field offer additional insights for readers and aspiring scientists.
Queer behavior in animals is as diverse and complex--and as natural--as it is in our own species. It doesn't set us apart from animals--it bonds us even closer to our animal selves.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published May 24, 2022
About the author
Eliot Schrefer
38 books1,277 followersELIOT SCHREFER is a New York Times-bestselling author, and has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award. In naming him an Editor’s Choice, the New York Times has called his work “dazzling… big-hearted.” He is also the author of two novels for adults and four other novels for children and young adults. His books have been named to the NPR “best of the year” list, the ALA best fiction list for young adults, and the Chicago Public Library’s “Best of the Best.” His work has also been selected to the Amelia Bloomer List, recognizing best feminist books for young readers, and he has been a finalist for the Walden Award and won the Green Earth Book Award and Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. He lives in New York City, where he reviews books for USAToday.
Also: I love marshmallows and early twentieth century fiction. And apes.
Also: I love marshmallows and early twentieth century fiction. And apes.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 426 reviews
November 23, 2021
[5 stars but I might be biased.]
Dear Reader,
I was eleven years old when I realized I was gay. It felt like some foreign thing had risen up inside of me, and I didn’t know what to make of it. The sum of the discourse around gayness in my sixth grade was “It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” That rhymed, so it had to be true.
But what did it make me?
That phrase is actually a fair summary of most biology textbooks’ take on same-sex sexual behavior in animals. By strict Darwinian logic, there is something “wrong” about queerness in the natural world, since it would predict fewer offspring. Therefore, science has long assumed that queerness is caused by human psychology. This has had a huge effect: Without studies to counteract it, the presumed “unnaturalness” of queerness has been a cornerstone of centuries of laws that have limited LGBTQIAP+ rights in humans.
Eleven-year-old me reeled at the thought that I was unnatural. I made it to the other side only after years of working to embrace my otherness, to “love the monster” rather than hate myself.
But what if it turns out that queer people aren’t aberrations from nature at all?
There has been an explosion of research over the last twenty years, documenting species after species with substantial and confirmed same-sex sexual behavior or non-procreative sexual expression. One thing is now sure: Queer people are not anomalies in the natural world. Next time someone tells you it’s unnatural for two males or two females to be together, tell them there are a couple of dolphins (or penguins, or geese, or doodlebugs, or _[insert animal here]_) named Adam and Steve who would like to have a strong word with them.
Sincerely,
Eliot
Dear Reader,
I was eleven years old when I realized I was gay. It felt like some foreign thing had risen up inside of me, and I didn’t know what to make of it. The sum of the discourse around gayness in my sixth grade was “It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” That rhymed, so it had to be true.
But what did it make me?
That phrase is actually a fair summary of most biology textbooks’ take on same-sex sexual behavior in animals. By strict Darwinian logic, there is something “wrong” about queerness in the natural world, since it would predict fewer offspring. Therefore, science has long assumed that queerness is caused by human psychology. This has had a huge effect: Without studies to counteract it, the presumed “unnaturalness” of queerness has been a cornerstone of centuries of laws that have limited LGBTQIAP+ rights in humans.
Eleven-year-old me reeled at the thought that I was unnatural. I made it to the other side only after years of working to embrace my otherness, to “love the monster” rather than hate myself.
But what if it turns out that queer people aren’t aberrations from nature at all?
There has been an explosion of research over the last twenty years, documenting species after species with substantial and confirmed same-sex sexual behavior or non-procreative sexual expression. One thing is now sure: Queer people are not anomalies in the natural world. Next time someone tells you it’s unnatural for two males or two females to be together, tell them there are a couple of dolphins (or penguins, or geese, or doodlebugs, or _[insert animal here]_) named Adam and Steve who would like to have a strong word with them.
Sincerely,
Eliot
June 22, 2022
An incredible, important book. The prose is accessible, but never pandering or patronizing. Lots of humor and LOLs. Smart and clever. Proof that there is nothing “unnatural” and non-hetero attraction—if anything, the opposite. Highly recommend!
January 22, 2023
Very friendly, well-informed, readable, science-based with touch of humor. Chapters focus on a specific creature, with a short mini-interview with a field scientist. Bisexuality flourishes in nature per its advantage to the species prospering. LGBTQIA+ examples can be found everywhere. We can no longer argue that humans are alone in their queerness.
Homosexuality went from fully legal throughout Europe in 1250 to a death-penalty offense in most countries by 1300, all because doing so was politically useful when conformity was the rule of the day.
In the midst of this thirteenth-century crackdown, Thomas Aquinas, philosopher and priest, argued for the unnaturalness of homosexuality precisely because it didn't occur between animals.
Intro: Penguins
Edinburgh Zoo got penguins in 1913: Andrew, Bertha, Caroline, Dora, and Eric. Quickly, 'cheating' began. And Andrew needed to be renamed Ann. Bertha became Bertrand, Caroline became Charles and Eric became Erica. They had gotten it right with only one penguin, Dora!
Woops!
Wrong again! This renaming was based on boy/girl pairs occurring. But Eric and Dora were females. Bertha(Bertrand) and Caroline(Charles) were both male.
I just read And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson about the two dad penguins that raised baby 'Tango' in Central Park Zoo. Great kid book.
The assumption of hetero by field researchers, thus only reports hetero when they see an encounter. This is problem is known as 'confirmation bias'. Have you seen two cats in an alley going at it, or two pigeons on the street - what did you immediately say to yourself about m/f?
28% of wild king penguins choose partners of the same sex. Science research does not support hormonal disorders, or lack of hetero partners. They will chose a same-sex partner in a huge crowd of over 200,000 birds. It just makes them happy.
1. Doodlebugs
In 1834, two dude doodlebugs were drawn/documented having sex. Experiments tested to see if the females just weren't present maybe. Or if just 'having sex with anything' promoted more offspring. Or was it mistaken identity? These do not explain experimental evidence.
There is no one way that a doodlebug acts. Just like there are no rules for human behavior that don't get contradicted as soon as you make them.
If animals do something that we like, we call it natural. If they do what we don't like, we call it 'animalistic'.
2. Bonobos
If two bonobos meet up after a few hours apart, they'll hug and rub against each other for a few seconds, as a way to check in before going about the rest of their day. Bonobo sex can be so quick and casual that primatologists call it the "bonobo handshake."
Sex for bonobos doesn't have to be biologically "productive" to be worthwhile.
Throughout their lives, most bonobos will have sexual partners of both sexes. And it's not that they'll just occasionally get together with members of their own sex - homosexual encounters among bonobos are actually more common thatn heterosexual ones.
3. Fruit Flies
Easy genetics (8 chromosomes) and quick life cycle (2 weeks). Science could manipulate fruit fly genes to get them to be unable to discriminate sex among themselves. But this does not cause a preference.
Is there a gay human gene? Or blood test you can do? Nope. A study with human twins concludes "that 50 to 60 percent of sexual orientation might be genetic."
Good discussion in this chapter.
4. Bottlenose Dolphins
Frisky young dolphin males have sexual contact an average of 2.38 times an hour ... and the majority of that is with other males.
For bottlenose dolphins, they hang out in two groups: 1)mothers and their calves; 2)males.
Two or three male dolphins will form an alliance that can last their entire lives. They hunt together, travel together, interact with unfamiliar dolphins together, and mate with females ... together. Once they've chose a female they will invite her into the alliance for around a week, mating with her all the while and driving competitor males away. Then the males go their own way and the new mother goes off to rear her calf, often in the company of other females.
Killer whales are seen to do similarly, but other whales dive too deep for proper study.
It is reasonable to assume that male bottlenose dolphins pursue sex with one another because it feels good.
Isn't this a lot of wasted dolphin energy if it doesn't produce offspring? We humans have ingrained the thinking of 'survival of the fittest' means every action by animals is purely to reproduce a more-fit generation. Isn't being in sync with your best-mates helpful for survival? Good discussion in this chapter.
5. Japanese Macaques
Male peacocks have beautiful plumage to attract females. But doesn't that attract predators too? It is the female's choices that control how the successful males develop.
Bio books make it sound like it is the dominate sperm that gets to an egg, but the egg itself does its own selection once you really study the science under a microscope.
There is a lot of female-female sex between macaques.
Is this:
- Dominance Demo? Unsupported by evidence
- Entice nearby males? Unsupported by evidence
- Create partnerships to help w offspring? Unsupported by evidence
- Reduce tensions following conflict? Unsupported by evidence
In other words, there isn't an evolutionary benefit to it. Females are having sex with females because it feels good, and because they want to.
6. Deer
Are there 'trans' animals?
Male deer go through a "velvet" stage, where their growing horns are covered by soft fuzz. Sexual maturity usually sheds the fuzz to reveal bone.
Some deer born with external male genitalia, though, never shed their velvet, and have bodies closer to those of female deer.
These "velvet-horn" deer are intersex and don't enter the pecking order of the rest of the deer society. They get driven out by the males. They skip hanging with the groups of mothers, and instead form their own troops of 3-7 velvet-horns. White-tail velvet-horn deer don't mate/reproduce.
By avoiding the deer-on-deer violence of the bachelor herds, they are comparatively healthier. If they find an orphaned fawn, they will incorporate them into their own group to rear. Mule deer do this too. (and red-tailed deer, swamp deer, sika, roe deer, fallow deer and moose)
Between 5 and 10 percent of the antlered fawns across studied deer species will not shed their velvet during their yearling months.
Thought most females do not grow antlers, between 1 and 2 percent do.
(I took hunter's education, and NONE of this was ever taught!)
These females will mate, but just happen to have antlers.
Elk velvet-horns tend to be healthier than average males and produce more offspring.
Male deer masturbate, rubbing their penises against their own bellies, or stroke their antlers against clumps of vegetation to ejaculation.
Dolphins have shown intersex. Some birds. Garter snake males will give off female pheromones. Some species don't have sex at all. Heterosexual procreation is not the norm in many species.
7. Wrasse Fish
All female wrasses have the capacity to become male; only one will do so at a time, if she's at the top of the female hierarchy when the previous male dies. Withing two hours, she'll have finished transitioning, and become the groups new male tyrant - though she'll change back if successfully challenged by a neighboring male.
Sex reversal is common in fish.
Even more common is "gonochoristic" fish where sex is determined at an early age and stays fixed for life.
Clown fish are all born male, and turn female if conditions call for it.
Some species of frogs and lizards change sex as needed within their local groups.
Flatworms are simultaneous hermaphrodites, with both male and female organs. Their sex dual upon meeting involves who can get their penis into the other worm the fastest. Or, choose the option to self-inseminate.
All female parrot fish will become male if they survive long enough.
Sea snail changes would take a couple of paragraphs to do justice here.
Researcher Max Lambert: Switching sex wasn't negative or positive, it was just a part of the natural state of that population. Biologists told ourselves for so long that it must be unnatural. My research led to a good question: Why do queer things exist? The simple answer is that animal bisexuality is not costly. It was so biologically simple. We're publishing another paper now on sex reversal. Again, very, very natural. It seems like it is a thing that just happens.
8. Albatross
Layson albatrosses nest on the Hawaiian Islands, and fly as far as California or Japan to feed. They mate for life, but nearly a third of the pairs are both female. Theyh go through the same courtship with each other, but one (or both) slip away to mate w a male to fertilize the egg. (If both get fertile, then Lesbian bonding leads to more chicks than hetero).
Like penguins, you can't tell the sex on these birds easily, so there have been centuries of unchecked assumptions.
About 12% of roseate terns were discovered to be female-female.
Male mute swans may bond for life, even with an empty nest. Same for black-crowned night herons and great cormorants. Altruism even occurs, where these male pairs get an extra egg from neighbor and hatch/raise it. Is this 'parasitism' or 'adoption'? We can't simply ask these birds!
Pairs of male cheetahs will parent lost cubs. Pairs of northern elephant seals adopt orphaned pups.
Fierce black swan male pairs will nab a nest with a fertilized egg and raise it on their own!
Having sex is not a prerequisite for these pairs. Neither is it in some human pairs too.
9. Bulls
Using an artificial vagina, bull semen can be collected. Bulls don't need foreplay. This is a quick process. Techniques to make it happen? Stroke the bull down the back of his leg. This is a BIG $ industry. Since these bulls are kept away from females, they have developed a liking for fellow bulls.
Homosexual activity in cattle doesn't have to have a reason to exist other than sexual gratification. In other words, they do it because it feels good.
Not just cattle: bison and sheep exhibit this too. Nearly 8% of male domestic sheep only want other males all the time. A big horn sheep study frond between 15 and 30 percent males choose rams over ewes every time. Rams and bulls and bison are also some of the few animals that can be said to have individuals that are exclusively gay or lesbian, not just bisexual.
Logan, (trans-researcher) used his own experience to want to study animals. Advice to young readers?
Don't be afraid to reach out to biologists, after you've read their book or paper. Don't feel like you have to follow the expected path, to earn a lot of money and get married, etc. You get to make your own way.
10. Ducks and Geese
Bonobos will have an orgy as casually as they'll have breakfast.
A second male wolf spider will jump in and make a threesome during a male/female mating session (where the female will eat that first male). The female body design can actually accommodate two males!
Lots of bonded groups appear in birds. Unattended eggs get eaten. Isn't it useful to have more than two parents?
While 90% of bird species are socially monogamous (one partner), genetic monogamy occurs in only 25%. That means there is a LOT of non-partner "open" relationship sex occuring.
Greylag geese have upward of 10 percent of nests cared for by thruples. Mostly 2 male 1 female, but some 1m/2f. Only 20% of heterosexual pairs manage to raise young to fledging, so the higher rates for these three-goose nests are advantageous.
These thruples are the real-deal. A serious three-person relationship. They tend to nest on the periphery of the flock, thus these extra-well-guarded nests actually help the entire flock by their surrounding sentries.
Our human assumptions around this polyamory are that it's naive and doomed to fail. People will get jealous, the thinking goes, and it's best just to settle down with one person because "it's the way it's meant to be." For many of us, though, that's just not how our hearts are constructed, and we can do ourselves a lot of harm by trying to bully ourselves into behaving the way society wants us to. Lots of humans pretend at monogamy and then go around cheating in secret."
Ducks and geese show that a polyamory relationship can be sustained.
Conclusion
I'll let you get the book and read this final chapter!
Excellent glossary, notes, and bibliography.
I obviously appreciated this well written book.
Easy 5*, add to 'favorites' and I recommend it to all readers.
Homosexuality went from fully legal throughout Europe in 1250 to a death-penalty offense in most countries by 1300, all because doing so was politically useful when conformity was the rule of the day.
In the midst of this thirteenth-century crackdown, Thomas Aquinas, philosopher and priest, argued for the unnaturalness of homosexuality precisely because it didn't occur between animals.
Intro: Penguins
Edinburgh Zoo got penguins in 1913: Andrew, Bertha, Caroline, Dora, and Eric. Quickly, 'cheating' began. And Andrew needed to be renamed Ann. Bertha became Bertrand, Caroline became Charles and Eric became Erica. They had gotten it right with only one penguin, Dora!
Woops!
Wrong again! This renaming was based on boy/girl pairs occurring. But Eric and Dora were females. Bertha(Bertrand) and Caroline(Charles) were both male.
I just read And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson about the two dad penguins that raised baby 'Tango' in Central Park Zoo. Great kid book.
The assumption of hetero by field researchers, thus only reports hetero when they see an encounter. This is problem is known as 'confirmation bias'. Have you seen two cats in an alley going at it, or two pigeons on the street - what did you immediately say to yourself about m/f?
28% of wild king penguins choose partners of the same sex. Science research does not support hormonal disorders, or lack of hetero partners. They will chose a same-sex partner in a huge crowd of over 200,000 birds. It just makes them happy.
1. Doodlebugs
In 1834, two dude doodlebugs were drawn/documented having sex. Experiments tested to see if the females just weren't present maybe. Or if just 'having sex with anything' promoted more offspring. Or was it mistaken identity? These do not explain experimental evidence.
There is no one way that a doodlebug acts. Just like there are no rules for human behavior that don't get contradicted as soon as you make them.
If animals do something that we like, we call it natural. If they do what we don't like, we call it 'animalistic'.
2. Bonobos
If two bonobos meet up after a few hours apart, they'll hug and rub against each other for a few seconds, as a way to check in before going about the rest of their day. Bonobo sex can be so quick and casual that primatologists call it the "bonobo handshake."
Sex for bonobos doesn't have to be biologically "productive" to be worthwhile.
Throughout their lives, most bonobos will have sexual partners of both sexes. And it's not that they'll just occasionally get together with members of their own sex - homosexual encounters among bonobos are actually more common thatn heterosexual ones.
3. Fruit Flies
Easy genetics (8 chromosomes) and quick life cycle (2 weeks). Science could manipulate fruit fly genes to get them to be unable to discriminate sex among themselves. But this does not cause a preference.
Is there a gay human gene? Or blood test you can do? Nope. A study with human twins concludes "that 50 to 60 percent of sexual orientation might be genetic."
Good discussion in this chapter.
4. Bottlenose Dolphins
Frisky young dolphin males have sexual contact an average of 2.38 times an hour ... and the majority of that is with other males.
For bottlenose dolphins, they hang out in two groups: 1)mothers and their calves; 2)males.
Two or three male dolphins will form an alliance that can last their entire lives. They hunt together, travel together, interact with unfamiliar dolphins together, and mate with females ... together. Once they've chose a female they will invite her into the alliance for around a week, mating with her all the while and driving competitor males away. Then the males go their own way and the new mother goes off to rear her calf, often in the company of other females.
Killer whales are seen to do similarly, but other whales dive too deep for proper study.
It is reasonable to assume that male bottlenose dolphins pursue sex with one another because it feels good.
Isn't this a lot of wasted dolphin energy if it doesn't produce offspring? We humans have ingrained the thinking of 'survival of the fittest' means every action by animals is purely to reproduce a more-fit generation. Isn't being in sync with your best-mates helpful for survival? Good discussion in this chapter.
5. Japanese Macaques
Male peacocks have beautiful plumage to attract females. But doesn't that attract predators too? It is the female's choices that control how the successful males develop.
Bio books make it sound like it is the dominate sperm that gets to an egg, but the egg itself does its own selection once you really study the science under a microscope.
There is a lot of female-female sex between macaques.
Is this:
- Dominance Demo? Unsupported by evidence
- Entice nearby males? Unsupported by evidence
- Create partnerships to help w offspring? Unsupported by evidence
- Reduce tensions following conflict? Unsupported by evidence
In other words, there isn't an evolutionary benefit to it. Females are having sex with females because it feels good, and because they want to.
6. Deer
Are there 'trans' animals?
Male deer go through a "velvet" stage, where their growing horns are covered by soft fuzz. Sexual maturity usually sheds the fuzz to reveal bone.
Some deer born with external male genitalia, though, never shed their velvet, and have bodies closer to those of female deer.
These "velvet-horn" deer are intersex and don't enter the pecking order of the rest of the deer society. They get driven out by the males. They skip hanging with the groups of mothers, and instead form their own troops of 3-7 velvet-horns. White-tail velvet-horn deer don't mate/reproduce.
By avoiding the deer-on-deer violence of the bachelor herds, they are comparatively healthier. If they find an orphaned fawn, they will incorporate them into their own group to rear. Mule deer do this too. (and red-tailed deer, swamp deer, sika, roe deer, fallow deer and moose)
Between 5 and 10 percent of the antlered fawns across studied deer species will not shed their velvet during their yearling months.
Thought most females do not grow antlers, between 1 and 2 percent do.
(I took hunter's education, and NONE of this was ever taught!)
These females will mate, but just happen to have antlers.
Elk velvet-horns tend to be healthier than average males and produce more offspring.
Male deer masturbate, rubbing their penises against their own bellies, or stroke their antlers against clumps of vegetation to ejaculation.
Dolphins have shown intersex. Some birds. Garter snake males will give off female pheromones. Some species don't have sex at all. Heterosexual procreation is not the norm in many species.
7. Wrasse Fish
All female wrasses have the capacity to become male; only one will do so at a time, if she's at the top of the female hierarchy when the previous male dies. Withing two hours, she'll have finished transitioning, and become the groups new male tyrant - though she'll change back if successfully challenged by a neighboring male.
Sex reversal is common in fish.
Even more common is "gonochoristic" fish where sex is determined at an early age and stays fixed for life.
Clown fish are all born male, and turn female if conditions call for it.
Some species of frogs and lizards change sex as needed within their local groups.
Flatworms are simultaneous hermaphrodites, with both male and female organs. Their sex dual upon meeting involves who can get their penis into the other worm the fastest. Or, choose the option to self-inseminate.
All female parrot fish will become male if they survive long enough.
Sea snail changes would take a couple of paragraphs to do justice here.
Researcher Max Lambert: Switching sex wasn't negative or positive, it was just a part of the natural state of that population. Biologists told ourselves for so long that it must be unnatural. My research led to a good question: Why do queer things exist? The simple answer is that animal bisexuality is not costly. It was so biologically simple. We're publishing another paper now on sex reversal. Again, very, very natural. It seems like it is a thing that just happens.
8. Albatross
Layson albatrosses nest on the Hawaiian Islands, and fly as far as California or Japan to feed. They mate for life, but nearly a third of the pairs are both female. Theyh go through the same courtship with each other, but one (or both) slip away to mate w a male to fertilize the egg. (If both get fertile, then Lesbian bonding leads to more chicks than hetero).
Like penguins, you can't tell the sex on these birds easily, so there have been centuries of unchecked assumptions.
About 12% of roseate terns were discovered to be female-female.
Male mute swans may bond for life, even with an empty nest. Same for black-crowned night herons and great cormorants. Altruism even occurs, where these male pairs get an extra egg from neighbor and hatch/raise it. Is this 'parasitism' or 'adoption'? We can't simply ask these birds!
Pairs of male cheetahs will parent lost cubs. Pairs of northern elephant seals adopt orphaned pups.
Fierce black swan male pairs will nab a nest with a fertilized egg and raise it on their own!
Having sex is not a prerequisite for these pairs. Neither is it in some human pairs too.
9. Bulls
Using an artificial vagina, bull semen can be collected. Bulls don't need foreplay. This is a quick process. Techniques to make it happen? Stroke the bull down the back of his leg. This is a BIG $ industry. Since these bulls are kept away from females, they have developed a liking for fellow bulls.
Homosexual activity in cattle doesn't have to have a reason to exist other than sexual gratification. In other words, they do it because it feels good.
Not just cattle: bison and sheep exhibit this too. Nearly 8% of male domestic sheep only want other males all the time. A big horn sheep study frond between 15 and 30 percent males choose rams over ewes every time. Rams and bulls and bison are also some of the few animals that can be said to have individuals that are exclusively gay or lesbian, not just bisexual.
Logan, (trans-researcher) used his own experience to want to study animals. Advice to young readers?
Don't be afraid to reach out to biologists, after you've read their book or paper. Don't feel like you have to follow the expected path, to earn a lot of money and get married, etc. You get to make your own way.
10. Ducks and Geese
Bonobos will have an orgy as casually as they'll have breakfast.
A second male wolf spider will jump in and make a threesome during a male/female mating session (where the female will eat that first male). The female body design can actually accommodate two males!
Lots of bonded groups appear in birds. Unattended eggs get eaten. Isn't it useful to have more than two parents?
While 90% of bird species are socially monogamous (one partner), genetic monogamy occurs in only 25%. That means there is a LOT of non-partner "open" relationship sex occuring.
Greylag geese have upward of 10 percent of nests cared for by thruples. Mostly 2 male 1 female, but some 1m/2f. Only 20% of heterosexual pairs manage to raise young to fledging, so the higher rates for these three-goose nests are advantageous.
These thruples are the real-deal. A serious three-person relationship. They tend to nest on the periphery of the flock, thus these extra-well-guarded nests actually help the entire flock by their surrounding sentries.
Our human assumptions around this polyamory are that it's naive and doomed to fail. People will get jealous, the thinking goes, and it's best just to settle down with one person because "it's the way it's meant to be." For many of us, though, that's just not how our hearts are constructed, and we can do ourselves a lot of harm by trying to bully ourselves into behaving the way society wants us to. Lots of humans pretend at monogamy and then go around cheating in secret."
Ducks and geese show that a polyamory relationship can be sustained.
Conclusion
I'll let you get the book and read this final chapter!
Excellent glossary, notes, and bibliography.
I obviously appreciated this well written book.
Easy 5*, add to 'favorites' and I recommend it to all readers.
April 25, 2024
This was fantastic fun, and I learned a bunch while reading it. Very similar to my experience reading Bitch last year, except geared towards a young adult audience. Absolutely recommended for everyone, though, because it completely overturns some very basic assumptions that patriarchal society takes for granted. The natural world is absolutely chock full of queerness. We're fuckin natural as shit*. Plus, it's funny!
*About 10% of white-tailed deer are born intersex and asexual and live their lives just chilling in sexless groups, occasionally adopting orphaned fawns. As an asexual person, I find this amazing and heartwarming. Lots of fun tidbits like this in this book!
Read Harder Challenge 2024: Read a YA nonfiction book.
*About 10% of white-tailed deer are born intersex and asexual and live their lives just chilling in sexless groups, occasionally adopting orphaned fawns. As an asexual person, I find this amazing and heartwarming. Lots of fun tidbits like this in this book!
Read Harder Challenge 2024: Read a YA nonfiction book.
February 11, 2023
My favorite kind of nonfiction: a nice mix of fascinating facts and humor! The doodlebug puns in the very first chapter had me howling! I mean, the other name for that insect is the cockchafer. He could have gone with cockchafer . . . but somehow it was so much funnier that he called them doodles. And then proceeded to make all the doodle jokes he possibly could! And yet I still learned so much. About animals, about humans. About how biological and zoological studies have changed over the years as well. So, so interesting!
And I was convinced the one reader was Bowen Yang from Saturday Night Live (it wasn't), but the delivery of so many of the lines reminded me of Bowen doing the Weekend Update bits on SNL, and it made me very happy!
And I was convinced the one reader was Bowen Yang from Saturday Night Live (it wasn't), but the delivery of so many of the lines reminded me of Bowen doing the Weekend Update bits on SNL, and it made me very happy!
May 29, 2022
SUCH an important book! THANK YOU! ♥️
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1645808644i/7494844._UX200_CR0,6,200,200_.jpg)
August 21, 2023
If you only read one nonfiction book this year, let it be this one.
It was fantastic. Informative, funny, insightful and very, very gay.
It was fantastic. Informative, funny, insightful and very, very gay.
July 4, 2024
I really enjoyed this book, and I surprisingly laughed a lot which isn't the norm for me with nonfiction. It's quite the opposite of dry, it's witty and informative and I had a great time reading it while learning new things about queer animals.
The book was really interesting, felt well-researched, and was written in such a compelling way that anyone would be able to understand it. It's divided into sections focusing on different animal specifies, there are short interviews with scientists, and the author weaves in real life observations, memories, and comparisons throughout.
Surprisingly, to me anyways, I noticed some themes regarding social connection, happiness and survival that could well have helped inspire Schrefer for his books The Darkness Outside Us and The Brightness Between Us which was pretty cool.
The book was really interesting, felt well-researched, and was written in such a compelling way that anyone would be able to understand it. It's divided into sections focusing on different animal specifies, there are short interviews with scientists, and the author weaves in real life observations, memories, and comparisons throughout.
Surprisingly, to me anyways, I noticed some themes regarding social connection, happiness and survival that could well have helped inspire Schrefer for his books The Darkness Outside Us and The Brightness Between Us which was pretty cool.
June 15, 2022
I found this absolutely fascinating and entertaining as an audio performance. The different voices cracked me up. And the INFO. The book presented a happy balance of labeling and fluidity/not labeling things, particularly as we can't 'speak' for animals and what's going on in their heads per se. A quick read/listen, too.
July 12, 2022
“Heterosexual is also a retronym. Homosexual shows up first in the English language, and then everyone had to scramble to find a word to describe people who were attracted to people of the opposite sex. Linguistically speaking, gays came first. So did sex-changing animals. The straights and non-sex-changers came after.”
Read
June 6, 2022(No rating because I don't rate nonfiction.)
Educational, entertaining, and cathartic.
I picked this up on a whim based on this title and am glad I did! It presents the science in an easily digestible way and brings a queer perspective to the animal kingdom.
The book has an overall humorous tone but occasionally touches on darker topics such as violations of animal and human rights. I found the chapter on fruit flies especially difficult to read since it discusses eugenics. Schrefer knows when to cut the jokes in these parts and the prose becomes serious.
I also love how this treats animals! I've always been sympathetic towards them and have dealt with people saying I'm "projecting human emotions onto them" so it was nice to read a book that treats them with compassion and understanding. I especially like how this explained how often animals go against survival of the fittest by being altruistic and loving to each other.
If you're interested in reading about animals from a book that treats them with dignity, are interested in learning about queerness in nature, or had a more conservative schooling experience like me and now need to know how things such as evolution actually work, I'd highly recommend this book! It can help deepen your understanding of animals and humans alike.
TWs: homophobia, eugenics (especially in chapter three), and mentions of r*pe (between animals)
Content note: this is mostly about animals having sex.
Educational, entertaining, and cathartic.
I picked this up on a whim based on this title and am glad I did! It presents the science in an easily digestible way and brings a queer perspective to the animal kingdom.
The book has an overall humorous tone but occasionally touches on darker topics such as violations of animal and human rights. I found the chapter on fruit flies especially difficult to read since it discusses eugenics. Schrefer knows when to cut the jokes in these parts and the prose becomes serious.
I also love how this treats animals! I've always been sympathetic towards them and have dealt with people saying I'm "projecting human emotions onto them" so it was nice to read a book that treats them with compassion and understanding. I especially like how this explained how often animals go against survival of the fittest by being altruistic and loving to each other.
If you're interested in reading about animals from a book that treats them with dignity, are interested in learning about queerness in nature, or had a more conservative schooling experience like me and now need to know how things such as evolution actually work, I'd highly recommend this book! It can help deepen your understanding of animals and humans alike.
TWs: homophobia, eugenics (especially in chapter three), and mentions of r*pe (between animals)
Content note: this is mostly about animals having sex.
June 16, 2022
“Queer ducks and other animals” by Eliot Schrefer is one of the most peculiar books I've ever read. It's eye-opening, fun, interesting and I basically devoured it. Thank you so much, @epicreads and harpercollins for this copy!
In this book, aided by the hilarious comics from artist Jules Zuckenberg, the author uses science, anthropology, history and sociology in narrating the diversity of sexual behaviour in animal world, with interviews with researchers, writers, scientists in those fields. A revolution happening years after years with studies about same-sex sexual behaviour in animals and Schrafer explores some negative theories about animal sexuality and, also, many positive for why queerness is part of the animals' natural state, confuting attempts in identitifying a gene that “causes” homosexuality, in understanding how it doesn't exist a “gay gene”.
In an hilarious and highly informative book, the author talks about how spread is bisexuality in nature, how dolphins simply prefer to spend their lives with other male dolphins and sex is a social glue, how history shows how queer rights changed in time, from being social acceptable in Ancient Greece and feudal Japan or the Mayan civilization to be deemed “unnatural” and with death penalty in nineteen century England, with ups and downs.
It's also interesting trying to identitify animals sexual behaviours and orientation using “humans” ideas and stereotyped expectations of how a particular sex should or shouldn't behave, mostly managing to identify animals that live outside of sexual binaries or that don't fall into simple female or male category.
Bisexuality, asexuality are part of the animal kingdoms as much as the other sexuality and heterosexuality isn't the norm, so isn't heterosexual procreation in many species and how there's an astonishing range in how sex is expressed in animal kingdom, not only used for procreation, but for pleasure and bonding. Animal sexuality, as human ones, resists simplification and refuse to be fit in boy-girl pairs.
“One of the beauty of queerness is that it resists simple definitions and classifications.” […] “Sexuality involves a lot more than sex. That goes for humans and it goes for animals”
In a world where the homophobia is still very much rampant, even publishing scientific research on queer animals is hard, even though there's a quiet revolution underway since decades. Queerness in animals world and its reason can be various like providing social glue for a relationships, like in the bottlenose dolphins, or to minimize conflict like in the bonobos or sexual expression changes to adapt to a new enviroment or sexual expression lives outside the two-sex binary or just, like in the case of penguins, because they prefer and want to.
In a very smart take, if queerness is “wrong” because “unnatural”, what does that mean when queerness is so well-estabilished and part of the nature itself? Does that mean that nature and the
whole animal kingdom is wrong too?
Queerness do exist in the natural world and there's also an incredible diversity in animal sexual behaviour and expression.
We live in a society that's mostly heteronormative, but if these studies showed something is how heterosexuality is just a product of an human culture, so made up by someone in the past, culturally speaking, so it's wrong to try to apply it to everything as a rule.
This book is eye-opening, hilarious and so very interesting, swinging from history and how the way people considered queerness changed with times, from accepted to condemned to accepted again, but not completely, in battling heteronormative and homophobic society and culture, in showing how rich and diverse is the animal kingdom and how animals queerness exist.
In this book, aided by the hilarious comics from artist Jules Zuckenberg, the author uses science, anthropology, history and sociology in narrating the diversity of sexual behaviour in animal world, with interviews with researchers, writers, scientists in those fields. A revolution happening years after years with studies about same-sex sexual behaviour in animals and Schrafer explores some negative theories about animal sexuality and, also, many positive for why queerness is part of the animals' natural state, confuting attempts in identitifying a gene that “causes” homosexuality, in understanding how it doesn't exist a “gay gene”.
In an hilarious and highly informative book, the author talks about how spread is bisexuality in nature, how dolphins simply prefer to spend their lives with other male dolphins and sex is a social glue, how history shows how queer rights changed in time, from being social acceptable in Ancient Greece and feudal Japan or the Mayan civilization to be deemed “unnatural” and with death penalty in nineteen century England, with ups and downs.
It's also interesting trying to identitify animals sexual behaviours and orientation using “humans” ideas and stereotyped expectations of how a particular sex should or shouldn't behave, mostly managing to identify animals that live outside of sexual binaries or that don't fall into simple female or male category.
Bisexuality, asexuality are part of the animal kingdoms as much as the other sexuality and heterosexuality isn't the norm, so isn't heterosexual procreation in many species and how there's an astonishing range in how sex is expressed in animal kingdom, not only used for procreation, but for pleasure and bonding. Animal sexuality, as human ones, resists simplification and refuse to be fit in boy-girl pairs.
“One of the beauty of queerness is that it resists simple definitions and classifications.” […] “Sexuality involves a lot more than sex. That goes for humans and it goes for animals”
In a world where the homophobia is still very much rampant, even publishing scientific research on queer animals is hard, even though there's a quiet revolution underway since decades. Queerness in animals world and its reason can be various like providing social glue for a relationships, like in the bottlenose dolphins, or to minimize conflict like in the bonobos or sexual expression changes to adapt to a new enviroment or sexual expression lives outside the two-sex binary or just, like in the case of penguins, because they prefer and want to.
In a very smart take, if queerness is “wrong” because “unnatural”, what does that mean when queerness is so well-estabilished and part of the nature itself? Does that mean that nature and the
whole animal kingdom is wrong too?
Queerness do exist in the natural world and there's also an incredible diversity in animal sexual behaviour and expression.
We live in a society that's mostly heteronormative, but if these studies showed something is how heterosexuality is just a product of an human culture, so made up by someone in the past, culturally speaking, so it's wrong to try to apply it to everything as a rule.
This book is eye-opening, hilarious and so very interesting, swinging from history and how the way people considered queerness changed with times, from accepted to condemned to accepted again, but not completely, in battling heteronormative and homophobic society and culture, in showing how rich and diverse is the animal kingdom and how animals queerness exist.
May 24, 2023
3.5 stars. Really interesting subject matter told in a fun and accessible way for teen readers. I especially enjoyed the robust bi representation and the sections on gender and polyamory, but I'll admit that hearing about all of the ins and outs of animal sex felt a little one-note after a while. The production of the audiobook was really well done, but even so I found myself "skim listening" to the audiobook at a couple of points. I think I would have been more interested in hearing about the biases in scientific research that has skewed our understanding of animal behavior toward the heteronormative, especially since it sounds like it's still an issue with ongoing research today. All that said, I can definitely see this being a really important book for readers wanting reassurance that anything humans have done with gender and sexuality is far from unnatural and has been done more often (and in much stranger ways) in the rest of the animal kingdom.
September 4, 2022
This was so fascinating and a breeze to read through. I learned so much and have never been so interested in science before. I think if some of what was discussed in this book I learned in general science or biology I maybe would have been more drawn to my education in science.
June 30, 2023
This was a pretty interesting read! The book covers a lot of examples of queer sexuality in the animal world, ranging from bonobo orgies to trans fish, to intersex velvet deer; there's a lot of delight in the fact that most animals are defacto bisexual. The book also includes interviews with scientists who are studying queer sexuality in animals, and a look into the history of research and the biases that have shaped research to ignore animal sexuality, misinterpret animal sexuality, or not publish finding they have that show queer sex in animal species. The author also talks about the dangerous rhetoric of assuming everything has an evolutionary precedent. In trying to find a reason scientists often don't start with the hypothosis of "Well, maybe the animals just like to have gay sex!" I really liked that Eliot Schrefer approaches animals with assumed intelligence and agency in their choices, rare in the scientific world.
I found the writing to be a little too simplistic for my taste--I was expecting a book that was a little bit heavier on detail and case study. I think it's a good starting off point, because it's very well researched and includes a lot of backmatter and source material for the more hard-core nerd who wants to go deep (heh) into dolphin sex. There's cartoons preceding and throughout the chapters to add a humorous tone to the book that personally did very little for me, but they might speak to someone else.
I found the writing to be a little too simplistic for my taste--I was expecting a book that was a little bit heavier on detail and case study. I think it's a good starting off point, because it's very well researched and includes a lot of backmatter and source material for the more hard-core nerd who wants to go deep (heh) into dolphin sex. There's cartoons preceding and throughout the chapters to add a humorous tone to the book that personally did very little for me, but they might speak to someone else.
Read
January 20, 2024This was a fun, good read. I grew up with the homophobic view that queerness was unnatural and didn't occur in the natural world. It was really cool to read about all these other animals that do have same-sex sexual relations and that bisexuality is more prominent than not. As an asexual, I still don't understand the hype of human sexual relationships, but that's something else. I really enjoyed the doodles and the writing was informative, and funny. This book took me a couple months to get through, but I'm really glad I stuck with it. It's taken me a long time to accept my own queerness, and I'm dedicated to reading more queer stories and educating myself on these and other queer topics.
July 23, 2024
Some parts of this are really interesting and I liked the historical elements that were incorporated. It was truly eye-opening.
However, sometimes I felt I was being 'preached' at and wished more time was spent on the animals rather than the author's personal life which is why I'm giving this 3*.
However, sometimes I felt I was being 'preached' at and wished more time was spent on the animals rather than the author's personal life which is why I'm giving this 3*.
June 26, 2022
Thank you, Netgalley for the ARC of Queer Ducks. It was very informative while being entertaining. The cartoon animal GSA that appeared throughout the book was a nice break in the science. Eliot Schrefer set this book up in a very cool way, with chapters on specific animals followed by Q&As with queer scientists. I’d love to put this book into the hands of many former students.
June 19, 2024
Gosh did I love this one. While targeted to an upper YA crowd, there’s still a nice chunk of stuff to learn in here. Really love the empathetic approach as well. It’s not something you often see in a lot of nonfiction books about animal behavior.
May 2, 2022
What a great look at queerness in nature! While this book deftly sidesteps overly humanizing or labeling animals and relationships with no understanding of our Western ideals or categories, it also reaches right out to readers- especially those in groups who need it the most- and boldly says "this is nothing new, this is nothing strange, this isn't wrong". The fact that this book exists makes me so emotional and so happy.
And it's also a genuinely fun read! I'm not a nonfiction reader, but Schrefer's conversational tone makes this book easy to pick up, and his humor makes it even easier to stay. I also loved the moments of biographical stories, connecting not just to these animals but to the world and why it matters, and specifically to Schrefer.
I also loved the fact that we get interviews with those studying these very specific groups and behaviors, mostly people who themselves are in the queer community.
Pre-review comments
I don't think I've been this excited about a nonfiction book in a long time!
And it's also a genuinely fun read! I'm not a nonfiction reader, but Schrefer's conversational tone makes this book easy to pick up, and his humor makes it even easier to stay. I also loved the moments of biographical stories, connecting not just to these animals but to the world and why it matters, and specifically to Schrefer.
I also loved the fact that we get interviews with those studying these very specific groups and behaviors, mostly people who themselves are in the queer community.
Pre-review comments
I don't think I've been this excited about a nonfiction book in a long time!
August 4, 2022
I totally binge-read this book, it was so good. The writing is smooth, humorous, and easy to follow, and the science is presented both in facts and in interviews with scientists. It's part an overview of the diversity of animal sexuality, part commentary on our human experiences and their relationship with sexuality, science, and nature. Super enjoyable, informative, and thought-provoking. I'd recommend it for all teens and adults, and I especially hope it gets into the hands of queer kids who might be struggling with their place in the world.
Bonus: the audiobook's primary narrator is Joel Froomkin, who is absolutely stellar, and the little cartoons and interviews are acted out by multiple narrators. You don't get the illustrations that the print book has, but their feeling is still conveyed through the audio version.
Bonus: the audiobook's primary narrator is Joel Froomkin, who is absolutely stellar, and the little cartoons and interviews are acted out by multiple narrators. You don't get the illustrations that the print book has, but their feeling is still conveyed through the audio version.
June 18, 2022
Audiobook review
When I started this, I thought I would simply be learning about queer animals, but this was more than just that.
This not only taught me about the queerness of animals, but also some of the history of human queerness. I learned a lot from this book.
Overall, this was so unbelievably funny at times, serious when needed, and a good way to learn about queer animals.
The narration was the best. I know the narrator as Joel Leslie, and it was through him that I learned about this audiobook and I am so glad I bought it.
When I started this, I thought I would simply be learning about queer animals, but this was more than just that.
This not only taught me about the queerness of animals, but also some of the history of human queerness. I learned a lot from this book.
Overall, this was so unbelievably funny at times, serious when needed, and a good way to learn about queer animals.
The narration was the best. I know the narrator as Joel Leslie, and it was through him that I learned about this audiobook and I am so glad I bought it.
September 16, 2023
Super interesting with very accessible and intriguing writing. And cute drawings! I love queer nerds.
May 16, 2023
Accessible, informed, and funny, perfect for young adults and adults who are curious about the topic. Had fun reading it,and enjoyed the structure of the book. Each chapter focused on a particular animal, but also occasionally related the behavior of those animals to that of other species. I also appreciated the short interviews with professionals in various wildlife-related fields! I read it over too many weeks to have a more in-depth review, but overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit and would definitely recommend it.
August 19, 2022
Engaging, revealing, and, at times, laugh out loud funny! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and learning about just how queer the animal kingdom is -- intersex deer, sex changing fish, poly ducks, queer bulls, and so much more. If anyone tells you that queerness is unnatural, just point them towards this book.
February 3, 2023
så spännande med djurens sexliv ju! och fin premiss att författarens mål verkar vara att få queera kids att upptäcka att hela djurriket (oss inklusive då, förstås) är icke-hetero!!!! för min del blev det liiite mycket ankedoter från författarens barndom dock, mer fokus på djuren hade varit mer min melodi. men jag förstår - behovet av att skapa igenkänning.
June 3, 2022
Zabawny, interesujący i bardzo przystępny reportaż o seksualności zwierząt, ale nie tylko. Autor zahacza o tematy akceptacji różnych orientacji ze strony społeczeństwa i udowadnia, że zwierzęta są nam bliższe, niż to się nam wydaje💗
April 8, 2024
This book was fun, interesting and informative. I really appreciated the personal aspects of it, as well as how it wasn’t using animal homosexuality to justify human homosexuality, but rather to show that the argument that homosexuality is unnatural is incorrect.
September 17, 2024
I didn't like the amount of personal stories and jokes that are put in the book. They took up a lot of space and it felt like the actual topic was left behind a lot of the times. Nonetheless what is being said about the animals was very interesting and enjoyable.
July 26, 2022
Wildly informative and engaging, this book shattered so many biological preconceptions while being bright, funny and guiding. I was pleasantly surprised (and shocked!). A recommended read (with cw that the explanations can be quite blunt!)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 426 reviews