Fool Hen?

It's a pileated woodpecker. For years and years I called them "red headed woodpeckers". I don't recall ever hearing them called a "fool hen". Old folks called them "wood hens". They are a neat bird.

I've heard rumors of folks eating them years ago. Could probably boil 2 birds in a quart sized pot? They're not very big.

From time to time I get some pretty neat looking bird pictures. Owls, hawks, eagles and turkeys. Not sure if I posted it or not?, but I have a picture of 4 turkey gobblers on the wing, pretty sure they were landing. There was no reason for them to land in that spot, I'd guess that somebody stepped on them?

I have heard of spruce grouse being called a fool hen. They are rather tame. Pileated woodpeckers are shy birds.

Pileated woodpeckers aren’t shy in my neighborhood. They come right in the yard and hammer away at dead branches and stumps. One time we had a mysterious knocking at the basement door. It happened a couple of times. When it happened again, I snuck around quietly. It was a pileated woodpecker pecking at its reflection in the basement window. I think maybe they got to be called fool hens because of their voice. Almost a ha-ha-ha. The infamous Woody Woodpecker was modeled after a pileated woodpecker that was tapping on Walter Lantz’s cabin. But I have heard them called woods hens too.

The same picture as above, just zoomed in a little bit. You can see he's braking hard.



Woodpeckers can be destructive. A friend of mine used to keep a mesh bag of beef suet hanging outside his living room window. They are fun to watch.

Years ago I found a woodpecker nest, I mean with 3 little chicks inside. I don't remember why or how I found it, I wasn't cutting the tree or anything like that. I went back with my camera, tripod and 400mm lens, and wasted 3 or 4 rolls of film. I've got some pretty good pictures of them here someplace.

I showed the nest to several people, have them stand back where they could see the hole good, I'd smack the tree hard with my hand and scratch my fingers across the bark up as high as I could reach. Like something climbing. The chicks would stick their heads out, ready to be fed.

Talking about our grouse, years ago we had a fair population of ruffed grouse. They are just about extinct in this area now. The state of West Virginia has a project going on now, a habitat improvement deal. The one property that I'm familiar with, the landowner is required to cut 60, (sixty) trees per acre. More or less to get some sunlight on the ground, and to get some new growth. The trees that are marked on that property are all trash. Twisted, knotty snags that will never make a good log.

I also read a story about some disease that is killing our grouse. It's not this Covid stuff that people are dealing with now. I'll search later, maybe I can find the story again? But that would be a shame if some disease or virus wipes out our grouse population. My opinion grouse are the best eating wild game we have (or did have) in this area. And there's no other bird that can replace them.

I had 33* at daylight and a good frost, it's that time of year.

It is a very good year for grouse here. I see some pretty well every time I go in the bush and it is rare one or more doesn't come home with me, including have a few shot in the yard. A .410 and head shots are the norm.

Musher, just curious, do you have both spruce grouse and ruffed grouse in your area?

I've only seen spruce grouse a few times, just out west, in Colorado and Wyoming. Years ago I was hunting through the woods and walked up on 2 or 3, I could see them on the ground, they let me walk very close before they flushed. They flew up and landed in the timber, and let me walk over to a tree and get a good solid rest, and I popped one's head off with my big rifle. It was on the grill that night, and I brought it's tail feathers home, had them for years.

The disease I was thinking about is West Nile. Do a search "West Nile virus killing grouse".

But here are 2 links. Read the story about the bobwhite quail, make up your own mind. 48 birds from Texas.


https://www.wvgazettemail.com/outdoors/r...7fc08c1c8a.html

https://governor.wv.gov/News/press-relea...t-Virginia.aspx

Here's the link I was looking for.

https://wvmetronews.com/2020/02/26/another-major-threat-to-the-already-fragile-w-va-grouse-numbers/

In some areas we have a lot of spruce grouse and few ruffed. In others it is the opposite. Around the house and the trap line closest to the house it is ruffed. The further north you go the fewer the ruffed.

I'd rather eat a ruffed. Lots of people will not shoot a spruce for that reason.

I haven't seen or heard a grouse in my neighborhood in ten years. They were never very plentiful to begin with.