Where is nyjer seed grown

Niger is in the composite sunflower family and is quite closely related to the popular garden plants Cosmos genus Coreopsis. It has yellow Cosmos-like flowers and grows up to 6 feet tall.

Ethiopian immigrants possibly introduced the seed to India around B. C along with other important food plants such as millet. It is also heated and made into a paste and eaten directly. The meal left after oil extraction is used as a livestock food. It is a useful crop in the tropics because it is relatively pest free and can be grown in clay and waterlogged soils.

In North America and Europe it is used primarily as a bird food. Initially it was given the unfortunate name of Niger Thistle perhaps due to the thin seeds or its desirability to Goldfinches and Siskins who also love thistle. However efforts have been made by the bird feeding industry to change the name to Nyjer Seed to distance it from the thistle name and emphasize the correct pronunciation. The heat sterilization also stops the germination of the Niger plant but it is unlikely grow and reproduce in temperate regions anyway.

Just like oil sunflower the high oil content of Niger makes it an energy packed food that is highly desirable for any bird adapted to eating small seeds. House Finches, Purple Finches and Juncos also eat it but for most people the Carduelis finches will be the only regular visitors to a Niger feeder.

The redpolls feed on seeds of birch and willow and were called by the common name of birch siskins. Along with the Pine siskins an irruption can occur where redpolls are found far away from their normal range. Irruptions occur in many bird species, which feed on an irregular food source. Occasionally a tree will produce a great abundance of seeds in what is called a mast year.

This irregularity is necessary for the trees because if they produced the same amount seeds regularly seed eaters could predict this and eat too high of a percentage of the seeds. Flocks of Redpolls and Siskins therefore need to travel widely in search of mast trees and in particularly heavy mast years their population can greatly increase, or they travel much farther than usual.

Flocks of Pine Siskins are found in open conifer forests, interestingly enough not so much in pine ecosystems. Siskins, like the Redpolls and other cold weather birds have the ability to store large amounts of food in their esophagus, which they can slowly digest over a cold winter night. Three species of Goldfinches occur in the US.

Lawrence goldfinches are the most localized occurring in Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California. Lesser goldfinches are a western bird, southward of Oregon and east to Texas. American goldfinches occur throughout the US and southern Canada. American Goldfinches were often called wild canaries because of the bright plumage of breeding males. Their less colorful winter coats features a dense layer of down feathers to add warmth to allow them to survive northern winters.

The primary food of Goldfinches is the seeds of the composite sunflower family. Goldfinches have their young in late summer when the seeds of these plants are most abundant. Instead of the typical insect diet goldfinches feed their young a seed mash.

Most imported seed loses its quality after a year. We also sell through the local hardware store and are looking at other farmers markets, and provide birdseed to the Medicine Hat Interpretive Centre. Along with niger seed, Williams and the Gills have developed other mixes with sunflower, canaryseed and other crops they produce. They enjoy growing the crop and find that it has a good fit with other crops they grow.

Is there a place where one can order niger seed. In about the last 10 years the birds do not like the niger seed. Your email address will not be published. Exact matches only. Search in title. Search in content. Search in excerpt. March 26, By Donna Fleury Topics. Birds prefer live niger seed over sterilized U. Print this page Tweet. Wheat, barley production up while canola, corn, soybean production down. Feeding and watching birds has become one of America's favorite pastimes.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, nearly half the households in the United States provide food for wild birds. The most commonly used birdseed are sunflower seeds, with black-oil sunflower seeds being the most popular. It's small size and thin shell make it easier for small birds to eat. Striped sunflower seeds are larger with thicker shells. Sunflower Helianthus sp. All sunflower shells contain allelopathic toxins that prevent other seeds from germinating.

This is partly why the ground beneath a feeder is often bare when feeding sunflower seeds. If this is a problem, consider feeding sunflower hearts instead. The hearts are expensive but contain no shell.

Safflower seeds look similar to sunflower seeds but have a very tough shell that only larger birds can crack.