Australasian Darters (Anhinga novaehollandiae) are relatively common in south-western Australia. Several pairs of Darters breed regularly in Melaleuca trees fringing John Oldham Park Lake near the centre of Perth City in a mixed breeding rookery with Little Pied and Little Black Cormorants. The female Darter was in the nest with one newly-hatched chick before she was joined by the male. Although the small chick was begging for food the male did not feed it, despite having a full crop. Two weeks later both chicks had hatched and had grown quickly. It was a hot day, and the female and chicks in the nest were panting, fluttering their gular (throat) pouches with the chicks trying to get into the shade of their mother’s body.