Niger or Nijer is
- The yellow flowering crop of "Guizotia abyssinica"
- A feed favored by finches for its size and high oil content
- An oilseed crop that is cultivated in Ethiopia, India, Myanmar and Nepal.
- The average plant height is four feet but can be up to seven feet.
- It is traditionally harvested while the buds are still yellow, then stacked to dry.
- The seeds, loosely held in the flower head, are black, club-shaped and narrowly long.
- It is the only major wild bird feed ingredient imported from overseas as we here in the US don't have the climate to grow it.
- In 1985, the US Department of Agriculture ruled heat treatment as a "condition of entry."
- In 1997, treatment temperature was set at 250 deg. for 15 minutes to devitalize all weed seeds that may be present.
- It has been marketed as bird seed for about 40 years.
Guizotia abyssinica is an erect, stout, branched annual herb, grown for its edible oil and seed.
Its cultivation originated in the Ethiopian highlands, and has spread to other parts of Ethiopia.
Common names include niger and nyjer.
The seed is sold as bird seed as it is a favorite of finches, especially goldfinches.
Nyjer® is NOT:
- A pink to purple flowering plant of the thistle species
- A perennial or biennial noxious weed
- An aggressive, opportunistic thistle strain from Europe, Africa or Asia
It is not Thistle
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