Ancient Peru Tar Pools Trapped Hundreds of Songbirds

A dusty, windy desert in extreme northwestern Peru was once a grassland, replete with hundreds of songbirds. But this grassland, which may have been dotted with seasonal dry forests, was also a trap. Now, researchers have analyzed 625 bird fossils and identified 21 species of birds, including three that are now extinct, which also succumbed to the sticky seeps.