A pelican named Percival learned something about the infertility game that many human couples go through—but this year he got some human help, and now he is the proudest pelican dad of all.

For six years, his licensed handlers watched as the bird faithfully nestled atop eggs in a bid to see them hatch. He and his mate would share egg-sitting duty—but they never got to see any chicks emerge. It looked like the couple was simply unable to produce any eggs that were fertile.

Percival would look on, year after year, as other pelicans proudly trundled their feathered broods near the Queensland, Australia sanctuary called Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue. (The sanctuary’s owners, women who are twins, could almost hear him sigh.)