Wednesday’s NPB game between the Rakuten Golden Eagles and Seibu Lions ended after eight innings with an 8-8 tie, because a group of birds wouldn’t get off the damn field.




As Kyodo News reported, the game’s initial rain delay had to be extended because of the birds that wouldn’t stop flying in circles. Even the grounds crew couldn’t scare them off.

Birder Kenn Kaufman took a guess that these were phalaropes, which can be found off the coast of Japan. (The baseball game was in Sendai.)


Phalaropes love to also spin while searching for food in the water.

All you wanted to do was watch a silly highlight, and now you’ve been tricked into learning something about birds. Sucker.