Feeding Birds Niger Seeds Part One

I want to thank everyone who took the time to read, comment, share and "like" my post on rain or shine feeders; as well as my subsequent series of posts where I described other feeders which I've tried in my urban garden. Using bird-feeders and placing them strategically is somewhat more difficult in an urban setting. I hope that my info has been helpful to those who face these concerns. This entry contains a little info on NIGER feeders. I referred to NIGER feeders in yesterday's (7-9-13) entry on HT (part six) but I want to say a few things about NIGER seed and NIGER feeders.
The NIGER feeder which I spoke a bit about in the aforementioned post can be seen in the first image. It is the feeder on the right; the feeder to the left is the peanut-feeder which I spoke about yesterday. I thought it might be helpful to show them in the same image because the "screen" on these feeders is interchangeable depending on if you want to use NIGER seeds or larger seeds (sunflower and safflower) with peanuts.
The second image also features the two feeders. As you can see, a dark-eyed junco is staring at a lone house finch; who is standing atop a nearly empty peanut-feeder as he gazes into the full NIGER feeder! He reminded me of folks who open a refrigerator and stare inside saying "there's nothing to eat," even when the refrig is full!
NIGER seeds are not the food of choice with my visiting birds, and so I've stopped putting it out because NIGER seed has a shelf life; unlike the "new" HOSTESS TWINKIES, this seed does not keep for a long time, and if you feed birds it is important to keep that in mind if you are using NIGER seeds.
If you see that the NIGER seed is not a fave, you can try just putting a handful of it into the feeder, as seen in images three and four, where a male house finch and a dark-eyed junco (respectively) are posing on the base of the NIGER feeder.
OR you can see if you have NIGER seed "takers" when you place the feeder atop a surface as opposed to hanging it (image five); of course placing a feeder on a surface needs to be monitored if it snows! (Image Six.)