Disney’s The Princess and the Frog may be the only instance of Roseate Spoonbills in animation, ever.
Nicknamed “Flame Birds”, Roseate Spoonbills are one of the most colorful wading birds of the United States. Don’t mistake them for flamingos.
They live along the Gulf Coast, so they’re an appropriate species for a story set in New Orleans. Through the late 1800s to the early 1900s, they were nearly hunted to extinction for their plumage (used in ladies’ hats). Owing to improved legal protection and public consciousness, the species had just started to recover by the period the movie was set.
