Ah, summertime: birds sing, flowers bloom, bees buzz, and woodpeckers peck… sometimes on your house. In summer we often get questions from people wanting to know why they peck and what sorts of woodpecker deterrents they might be able to use to limit the damage they do. Our scientists have done some research into these questions, and we’ve summarized their findings in a couple of entries on our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Do woodpeckers have you rattled? Here are some quick answers:
Why do they do it?
Woodpeckers usually hammer on houses for one of three reasons:
- because it makes a satisfyingly loud noise that proclaims the bird’s territory
- because the bird wants to excavate a nest or roost hole
- because it is feeding on insects living in the siding.
The most common culprits are Hairy, Downy, Pileated, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers along with the Northern Flicker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
What kind of woodpecker deterrents work?
A Cornell Lab study published in the journal Human-Wildlife Impacts (PDF file) found that aluminum and vinyl sidings in lighter colors are less likely to be damaged by woodpeckers—although if they are drumming it can be loud and annoying. The birds usually drum to establish a territory or attract a mate (they are not looking for food) and will most likely stop once breeding has begun in the spring. Wooden siding gets much more damaged.
If the woodpeckers are creating a nest cavity, the hole will be large and round. In our study, homes built near wooded areas tended to be more vulnerable to woodpecker damage.
If the birds are looking for insects, the holes they make will be small and irregular. You may have to call an exterminator to get rid of the underlying insect problem. Woodpeckers are particularly fond of the larvae of carpenter bees, leafcutter bees, and grass bagworms.
How do you get the woodpeckers to keep visiting your feeders but leave your house alone?
The Cornell Lab tested six common long-term deterrents to see how well each prevented woodpecker damage. The results were published in 2007 in the Journal of Wildlife Management (abstract). The methods tested included life-sized plastic owls with paper wings, reflective streamers, plastic eyes on fishing line, roost boxes, suet feeders, and a sound system which broadcasts woodpecker distress calls followed by the call of a hawk. Only the streamers worked as a deterrent with any consistency: the shiny coating and movement in the wind kept the woodpeckers at bay and completely eliminated damage at half of the 16 test sites. Plastics owls and distress calls may work at first, but after a while the woodpeckers get used to them and go back to their old habits. Bottom line, unfortunately: nothing works all the time.
- You can find more answers to frequently asked questions at our FAQ page.
- Brush up on your woodpeckers in our All About Birds species guide.
- Learn more about woodpecker damage from this archived website about our woodpecker study
(Image: Acorn Woodpecker by Larry Meade via Birdshare)
21 Comments
This is such a wonderful new element – my luddite days are over!
How interesting. I own a log home and occassionally have to chase red-bellied off the house. More interesting is knowing they like carpenter bee larvae. We have no shortage of carpenter bees and I wonder how the woodpecker impacts the carpenter bee population.
We have a log home in the woods and had a major problem with a couple of very persistent Northern Flickers. My husband hung chicken wire and they just moved to a new area and did even more damage. He finally moved one of my wind chimes that moves with very little wind from the eves and that has finally taken care of the problem.A couple of years ago one was drumming on the metal chimney at 6 a.m. just like clockwork and it would echo thru the whole house
I found a large battery powered plastic spider that falls down with noise or motion that works well. I’ve not had a woodpecker problem since I started using it.
We have a cedar sided home in Texas. The N. Flickers loved to make cavity holes in the attic region where there was a very nice hollow sound when they pecked their holes. They would hang inside the hole for the night. These were like hotel rooms since this was during the winter months. I put up a nesting box over the hole and they used this. It had a removable bottom and when starlings tried to nest in the summer, I removed the bottom. I left the bottom off and the woodpecker didn’t mind. He/she still hung inside the box.
My only experience with them is rapping on my gutters. I guessed they were either marking their territoy or trying to attract a mate.
They do not seem to do it year round but for a limited time.
I accept this because they hold down the pet population on my heavily wooded lot.
My only experience with them is rapping on my gutters. I guessed they were either marking their territory or trying to attract a mate.
They do not seem to do it year round but for a limited time.
I accept this because they hold down the pest population on my heavily wooded lot.
We have scores of Acorn Woodpeckers that work on our cedar sided house. Dangling old cds worked for a while but now I have draped bird net from the roof to the ground on the east side which seems to be their favorite place besides the Oak trees of course. It does work even if it’s unsightly and they occasionally peck elsewhere.
We have a very persistent woodpecker that had decided to bang on our wood siding every morning about 5:30 or 6 am. We tried spraying the house down with bug killer, a plastic owl, a flag and nothing worked until one morning my husband was so mad, he got a glass of water, opened the window above the woodpecker and threw the water on it. The woodpecker flew away after getting doused (complaining the whole time) and we haven’t seen or heard that woodpecker since!
A few years ago, I had a flicker (I then called them f-l-u-c-k-e-r-s !)who insisted on creating nesting real estate in my wood-sided house. After three holes — and three repairs to block the bird — I finally joined the party, ordered a flicker house online, and put it up over the last hole. No more flicker holes, and now I get to be a flicker grandma every year.
If you can’t beat ‘em…
Ah, waking up to spring woodpeckers on the flashing! Then bats in the carriage barn loft, swooping shapes at dusk in the back yard. Bird poop from the trees overhanging the driveway decorating the venerable white Volvo.
Wouldn’t give a one up. They were here first. I’m a sojourner, with the privilege of sharing their lives.
Thanks for the reminder, Dayle, of how privileged we are to be visitors in this forest…
We have a stucco (DriVit) house in SD and the first two years the N. Flickers made two holes. Last year we had 32 holes from pea size to 4″ on every side of the house and the detached garage. We tried putting a birdhouse over one hole, didn’t work. Then we started to hang CD’s on wire from the eaves, that seemed to work. This year we hung them in late March on all sides, not one flicker around. Just hate it that this is what will have to be done each year, will take them down in late August.
Several years ago we had a very persistent downy woodpecker pecking holes in our cedar siding. We attached bird netting about 2 inches away from the siding and never had a problem again.
I live in a farming community outside of Phoenix, Arizona, and we had Gila Woodpeckers boring small holes in our stucco. We noticed that most of the holes were at the bottom of exterior doors; we also noticed a bumper crop of crickets, so we had our house sprayed for insects and the woodpeckers left the house alone. They still come to drink from the hummingbird feeders, but no bugs no damage to our stucco.
How does deterring a woodpecker protect you? oh- I forgot- homeowners trying to protect that precious monolith that will be bulldozed when it has deteriorated into a slum neighborhood during which time fully one third of the Earths precious beings- which 98% chimpanzees call species- are in immenent danger of anihilation by 98% chimpanzees- ie human- greed- a process they call extinction. I get it. That’s what’s important. Hmmm. If a woodpecker has the courage to attempt to live in a human environment rather than go extinct you should be so lucky. Better yet, help them. Put up nest boxes. Put out water. Put up false siding that can be taken down and replaced when the woodpeckers tire of drilling on that. Make a musical drilling “tree” out of wood and (secure) metal sheeting of differing sized pieces that could possibly make differing sounds in a musical way- who knows? Maybe they have something they are trying to tell you- such as- ask the dinosaurs what the price of gas is. Or maybe- you’re next. Humans are so selfish and egotistical its beyond comprehension. I think you’d better listen.
Many years ago, my aunt was annoyed by woodpeckers pecking on her house. She solved the problem by nailing up a fake snake on the side of the house.
Two weeks ago, I had to replace two 12 foot sections of siding damaged by a pileated woodpecker. I think the only way to effectively deter the woodpeckers is to reduce the number of carpenter bees that lay eggs in the siding that the woodpeckers eat.
We had red bellies and Downies pecking on certain wood parts of our house. They made some good sized holes, I thought.
The house was painted brown. When it needed new paint we had it painted green.
Then I put mylar ribbons at each end of the house to scare them. I don’t know if it it is the ribbons or the green color but they have gone away.
They still come to the feeders.
About middle of summer grey larger wood pecker woke me up knocking on metal roofing very earl in mornings.This continued to wake me every morning and drive me crazy.It echoed across the whole roof.Several times I yelled out the window and it would fly off.I finally did not see the pair for a while.They were shy and quick to fly off.Finally now just at beginning of winter I noticed one of them flying in under the eve of the front deck and making low diving circles.I could not figure out what this bird was wanting.I left on vacation for a week and a half.I came back and noticed shreds of wood on my deck and looked up and discovered a large hole in my nice wood under eve of deck.This was at least fist size and I did see this bird persistantly keep coming back and could not believe the distruction it did.Of course my house is new and tongue and groove.But the bird did not care.I just have to say that it is only a question as to how big they want their hole.I guess they want to hide for the winter? But why pick a house near people? Anyway somehow I have to find a sonic bird whistle because I’m sure that nothing else will persuade them to stop without only making a new hole somewhere in the wood.It’s a shame because I am a bird lover.If you know you are near the woods,watch out,especially if your house is wooden or log.I’ve heard that they love log houses and make more distruction with them.
Woodpeckers are destroying – and I DO mean destroying – my teak patio furniture. We live on water; it is a heavily wooded neighborhood and a neighbor has several feeders providing food, so they can find all they need elsewhere. The only solution I have found is to keep the furniture covered between uses. Reflective streamers aren’t my decor choice, but something has to be done soon before we lose the expensive furniture.
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