This past month has been extremely special, magical, and exciting for this one particular pelican named Mr. Percival who lives at Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue in Australia. Turns out, for six years, this gentleman along with his partner has nested and cared for their eggs, hoping for a baby, but none of the eggs have ever hatched. Until now. Well, sort of.
A month ago, Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue shared a post on Facebook explaining how the carers of the sanctuary decided to place a fellow pelican’s egg in Mr. Percival’s nest. Yes—after all these years of persistent waiting, the pelican was finally gifted a perfect little baby chick.
More info: Facebook
For 6 years, this couple has nested and cared for their eggs but none of them have ever hatched
Image credits: Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue
"Mr. Percival has never given up trying to have a baby pelican chick. He sits on his eggs with his partner that shares the incubation and the eggs have never hatched. He has been doing this for 6 years now and we felt so sorry for him as it’s so sad when he sees the others around him seeing baby pelicans," reads the post on the Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue Facebook page.
"It’s so sad when he sees the others around him seeing baby pelicans," shared the sanctuary
Image credits: Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue
"So we did this amazing thing for him as we wanted to make him really happy this time. We switched one egg over from one nest to the other," the post continues. "Mr. Percival and his partner have been communicating with the egg and today the egg hatched and we just couldn’t believe how Mr. Percival was proud as punch."
The carers decided to place a fellow pelican’s egg in Mr. Percival’s nest
Image credits: Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue
Apparently, Mr. Percival has shown himself to be a devoted and responsible dad: "We are so proud of him. As we can see, the baby pelican chick is growing beautifully and we have learnt something by observing that the male pelican feeds more than the female, but they both take time out sitting on the baby pelican."
Mr. Percival has shown himself to be a devoted and responsible dad
Image credits: Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue
"He made us cry! As you can tell, he and his partner are in love with their newborn pelican chick. Glad he will feel like the others that are surrounded around him with their pelican chicks," the carers share their excitement. "This is true love for our Mr. Percival. We have a special permit to look after him; we have had him for 18 years now and he is enjoying life down by the dam."
"We are so proud of him. As we can see, the baby pelican chick is growing beautifully"
Turns out, the carers came across Mr. Percival 18 years ago on Chambers Island in Maroochydore, Queensland. The little pelican would constantly get entangled in fishing lines and hooks and need help.
Turns out, the carers came across Mr. Percival 18 years ago on Chambers Island in Maroochydore, Queensland
Image credits: Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue
"But the poor thing lost his wing due to a bad injury and a beautiful vet fixed him up. We got a special permit to keep him on our dam and we let people and kids know what fishing line and hooks can do to the wildlife," the team of Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue explained in a Facebook post.
After the pelican lost his wing due to a bad injury, the sanctuary got a permit to keep him
Image credits: Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue
Now, Mr. Percival seems to be happier than he's ever been before. "We are so honoured to see Mr. Percival doing a great job and his partner raising this little pelican chick. Mr. Percival goes for a swim and catches little fish, then he feeds his little one and we feed him fish too, so he has a great life living on the dam, no more hooks and line," shared the team of the sanctuary.
Here's how people on the internet feel about the great news
