Very nice article Kim. Thank you for doing the research & telling us about it.

Thanks for the informative article.

I have never had Niger sprout.......Sunflowers and other seeds do. I do have to sweep up the black husks sometimes.........

I have been thinking about my bird strategy for next season - perfect timing and thank you very much!

Thank you so much for the comments, thumbs and acorns. You are all so kind. I was really amazed when I logged in today after being away all day yesterday. I only recently learned this a few months and enjoyed writing about it.

Last year, the Nyjer was practically ignored, so I thought I would not use any this year. But then I thought of the Redpolls, there is always a chance that they will come back. I would not want them to pass me by if I didn't have the sock feeders up. I got a bag last week.

We go through about 5 lbs a week in the winter. Never had it sprout here. On the contrary, we place the bird feeders (for Nyjer only) where the grass lawn has been doing poorly and, in the spring, the bird droppings and dropped seed have worked wonders.