We are accustomed to seeing non-flying birds like chickens or ostriches running. However, what we rarely see is a bird that can fly but actually chooses to run.
In a viral video shared by Instagram user Francheska aka venice_beach_rays, a flock of sandpipers can be seen running away from water instead of just rising in the air.
The birds were hanging out on the shore when a huge wave threatened to soak them. In order to avoid this scenario, sandpipers started running away in a mesmerizing unison. However, their little legs were not fast enough, so when they noticed they couldn’t outrun the ocean, they turned to plan B and simply started flying.
“sandpipers at sunset,” Francheska captioned the video.
The video has amazed the internet since being posted in late December, with the original post receiving 1.7 million likes.
There was also a slight debate in the comments section about whether the birds on the video were sandpipers, snowy plovers, or sanderlings. However, everyone agreed that the video was simply amazing.
“Please keep me on this side of the algorithm, instagram!!,” one Instagram user commented.
“I love how they all run together. Thanks for the video,” another added.
