As Lennie said, white hickory is another name for mockernut (C. tomentosa), which is very variable, and has recently been renamed as C. alba. It is probably actually more of a complex of related species and subspecies. I have cut mockernut that was white nearly all the way through, but some has a thick, reddish-brown heartwood. The mockernut here makes excellent bow wood. I'd like to see quail eat hickory nuts, too lol. The main critters around here that eat hickory nuts are bears, wild boar and squirrels. Bears love 'em, I've seen places in the woods where a bear had sat down on it's butt under a hickory tree and just raked the nuts up. When I used to bear hunt with hounds, the first places we would check for a bear track were white oak groves and hickory nut ridges. Actually, I like hickory nuts pretty well myself.
