Alright, let me walk you through something I looked into recently. The question just kinda popped into my head while I was thinking about old favorite movies: was the common loon bird in Finding Nemo? I honestly couldn’t remember seeing one.
So, my first thought was, “Okay, what birds do I remember?” Right away, Nigel the pelican came to mind. Super helpful guy, can’t miss him. And then, of course, those seagulls. You know the ones. “Mine! Mine! Mine!” They’re pretty iconic.
But a loon? With the black and white pattern and those red eyes? It just wasn’t ringing any bells. I figured, maybe it was a quick background thing I missed.
Hitting the Search
My next step was simple enough. I went online and started searching. Typed in stuff like “birds in finding nemo,” “loon finding nemo,” “what kind of bird was in finding nemo.”
- Lots of results came up about Nigel being a Brown Pelican (apparently specifically an Australian Pelican, makes sense).
- Plenty about the seagulls, often identified just as generic seagulls, likely modeled after Silver Gulls which are common in Sydney.
- Found some forum discussions where people asked similar questions about other birds, but nothing solid about a loon.
Basically, the internet seemed focused on Nigel and the gulls. No clear “yes” or “no” on the loon, but the lack of mention was telling.
Time for a Rewatch
Okay, searching didn’t give me a definite answer. I decided the best way was to just watch the movie again, or at least the key parts with birds. I pulled up Finding Nemo and specifically paid attention to scenes around the ocean surface and the dentist’s office where Nigel hangs out.
I watched the scenes with the seagulls mobbing Nigel. Nope, just gulls.
I watched Nigel’s scenes carefully, both when he scoops up Marlin and Dory and when he flies them to the dentist’s office. Looked at the background birds in the harbor shots.
Still no loon. I saw pelicans, I saw gulls. I didn’t see anything that looked like that distinctive common loon shape or coloring.
Putting it Together
So, after thinking back, doing some searching, and then actually rewatching parts of the film with that specific question in mind, I feel pretty confident.
Based on my little investigation here, it seems the common loon didn’t make an appearance in Finding Nemo. The main bird stars are definitely Nigel the pelican and those “Mine!” chanting seagulls. If a loon was there, it must have been incredibly well-hidden in the background, but I certainly couldn’t spot one, and nobody online seems to point one out either.
It was kind of fun to go back and check, though. Sometimes you remember things differently or wonder about little details. This time, it looks like my initial memory was right. No loons in Nemo’s big adventure.
