Jeff & Konnor's Blog

In March 1877, Utah pioneers "turned loose ninety pairs" of English sparrows in Salt Lake City to eat the insects that were damaging fruit crops. Unfortunately, the sparrows preferred eating the fruit buds over the insects. They also drove off most of the bluebirds, chickadees, and robins, and today are the most common bird we see in our backyard. As the Salt Lake Tribune fortold at the time, "This portion of the country will soon be completely stocked with them. It is believed that they are better breeders than the Mormons themselves."