Odd News Roundup: Dead birds get new life: New Mexico researchers develop taxidermy bird drones; Rodents beware: New York City hires first 'rat czar'

A team at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro is taking birds that have been preserved through taxidermy and converting them into drones in order to study flight. Rodents beware: New York City hires first 'rat czar' New York City's unending war on rats has a new commanding general.

Following is a summary of current odd news briefs.

Dead birds get new life: New Mexico researchers develop taxidermy bird drones

Scientists in New Mexico are giving dead birds a new life with an unconventional approach to wildlife research. A team at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro is taking birds that have been preserved through taxidermy and converting them into drones in order to study flight.

Rodents beware: New York City hires first 'rat czar'

New York City's unending war on rats has a new commanding general. Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday announced that Kathleen Corradi, an education department employee, has been appointed New York’s first-ever "rat czar," part of Adams’ effort to combat a growing rodent population in the county’s most populous city.