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'What is happening right now?': Colorful visitors invade Bradley softball game in Florida

Wes Huett, Journal Star
·2 min read
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The Bradley softball team was in the middle of a very viral — and colorful — moment during its game Friday morning in Orlando, Florida.

The game between BU and Gardner-Webb was interrupted as a pair of large parrots flew around the playing surface at the University of Central Florida Softball Complex.

"Lots of people wondering what's happening," the ESPN announcer said. "There are multiple parrots on the field. One almost landed on the umpire ... gorgeous birds making their presence felt."

The announcer went on to joke that the game had become a sideshow as the multi-colored birds continued to circle above the infield and outfield — before one eventually landed on the shoulder of home plate umpire Chad Stears.

"Is this part of the show?" the announcer asked, "What is happening right now?"

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A member of the UCF grounds crew eventually came out and removed the parrot from the umpire's shoulder and walked off to applause from the crowd.

The 67-second clip flew around Twitter over the weekend, first posted to the Bradley softball account @Bradleysoftball at 10:41 a.m. — before @CBSSports and @NCAASoftball followed, along with MLB Pipeline, Sports Illustrated, Bally Sports and ESPN. As of Saturday morning, the video has 636 likes and nearly 125,000 views.

"I did scream and run away because I'm pretty sure one of them had a vengeance," Bradley player Bailey Sample told the school website. "He was looking for me, and so I was just not having it. I was scared."

The two parrots ended up being pets named Tiki and Lelu, according to Bradley.

"The birds often fly around near the stadium and are free-flight trained," wrote the school. "Tiki and Lelu heard all the commotion over at the field and decided to check out the action."

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Parrots fly into Bradley softball game in Florida, land on umpire