Woodpecker banging on home!

Woodpeckers drum on homes because they are large, wooden structures often placed near their habitats.

Common reason they drum on our homes are:
  1. Looking for a mate
  2. Establishing a territory
  3. Finding insects crawling on your house
  4. Making a cavity for breeding
  5. Making a cavity for winter warmth

Woodpeckers can frustrate us, but these protected birds indicate a healthy forest and mitigate insect damage in our trees. 

​Northern Flickers are a "keystone species," meaning they provide habitat services critical to other animal species. They do this by providing cavities for a wide range of other animals, including several species of owls, ducks like wood ducks, small cavity nesting birds like chickadees and nuthatches, mammals like weasels, and even reptiles, like snakes. These animals are unable to create their own cavities, so without Flickers, and other woodpeckers, they would have few nesting sites. 

Woodpecker Nest FACTS

​Many commercial solutions for woodpeckers don't work or harm the bird.
  • It is not kind or legal to harm woodpeckers.
  • Prevention is key, using physical solutions. 
  • Once a nest with eggs or babies is established, it is illegal to interfere in any way.
  • Removing a tree or limb with an active nest (eggs or babies) is illegal and kills babies.
  • Moving a nest more than 2 feet away will lead to abandonment of the cavity. 
  • A legally permitted, trained bird rescuer can move the nest, but it still cannot be moved far
  • Moving the nest must result in parents coming to the new location and feeding.
  • A woodpecker nest can be cut out of a tree or limb and placed somewhere else on that tree. Leave the trunk of the tree, and wire the cavity onto the trunk. 

Damage Prevention - Install a Flicker box

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​Prevent home damage by offering the birds an alternative - their own cavity! While this does not stop territorial or mate attracting drumming, it can still mitigate nesting in the home. Boxes also benefit the bird, which is in decline. 
  • Important Tips!
  • Boxes must have grooves every 1/2" inch horizontal on all inside walls to allow babies to perch on the sides. 
  • In a natural cavity, the sides are rough and babies perch on them starting very early. 
  • Our boxes are often smooth-sided, preventing this critical natural behavior. 
  • Without grooves, babies pile on top of each other on the bottom of the box.
  • A pile of babies results in some (those on the bottom of the pile) getting less food.
  • A pile of babies is also much hotter, causes feather damage, and leads to disease as babies poop on each other.
  • For a detailed discussion on Flicker box choices, instructions, and installation see this blog post: https://www.nativebirdcare.org/blog/bangers-boxes-babies
​

Exclusion & Prevention Tips

Eliminate Insects on the home. 
  • ​Washing, repainting, or staining the home can help eliminate insects that woodpeckers and other small insect eaters, like nuthatches, might find attractive. Birds pecking on the home can mean insects and insect damage.
  • Replace or add 1/2" hardware cloth to the vents around the home. 
  • Block holes above beams with mesh. 
  • Install sheet metal to upper siding just below the eaves.
Cover hole with a nestbox for that species.
  • Simply placing a box over the location of pecking can stop the bird. 
  • Boxes provide homes for summer and winter
  • Use the correct box for the species
Cover hole with HARDWARE CLOTH - Exclusion - AFTER BABIES HAVE Fledged
  • ​MAKE SURE THERE are NO BIRDs/BABIES IN A HOLE prior to covering!
  • Hardware cloth is a metal mesh.
  • Staple either directly on the damaged area,
  • Or place at an angle to enclose the entire area.
  • ​Paint to match house with a metal-grade paint.  
  • Make sure the bird cannot get behind the mesh!
SHEETMETAL - Glue or tack down over holes or areas birds are interested in. Paint to match. Bend around trim
BOX THE AREA IN - 
  • ​​Enclose gable ends or put box around - a woodpecker wants to be UNDER the eaves, protected. Eliminate that option. ​Never leave a space over a beam open or vent holes without screen.​
MYLAR STRIPS (OR OTHER SHINY THINGS) - 
  • Tack up shiny Mylar strips every few inches across eaves. Tack down bottoms or add weight to keep down by adding duct tape. Holographic wind socks also work.
HANGING UP ANYTHING works, if you put enough of it - 
  • ​PARACORD OR ROPE: BirdSavers.com has a nice professionally produced product. "Scary Eyes" balloon; Holographic stringers, yard art items like pin wheels, be creative. Netting is less noticeable.
WINDOW SOLUTIONS - many of these solutions work for woodpeckers too. 

Drumming

  • Paint metal caps, ridgelines with Rubberizing paint (talk to the Hardware store). 
  • Glue or attach burlap to wood or other non-flammable surfaces.
  • Provide alternative drumming sites. 
  • ​​Tolerance - get up when they do.
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