Teasle spiny seed heads were used to "card" wool in the old countries. It isn't a native American plant as far as I know. I don't know if gamebirds can eat it, but at least in Eastern Washington "weed jungles" we hunted when I lived in Pullman, they REALLY liked to hide in it.

If some jerk in your hunting party slammed a truck door when setting up, you would see hundreds of phez leaking out of the far side of the "jungle" like black smoke particles, especially late in the season when the birds got wise.