Discouraging Woodpeckers From Pecking on Your House
Вставка
- Опубліковано 12 лип 2024
- While woodpeckers are wonderful birds, dealing with woodpecker damage to your house is frustrating. Woodpeckers view wood houses as the biggest softest trees they can find. Discouraging woodpeckers from pecking on your house can be relatively simple or frustratingly complex.
Scare Tape: tinyurl.com/mrydvyd4
Rubber Snake: tinyurl.com/2p843yxk
Mark McKellar is a wildlife biologist with over 35 years of bird study experience. He has a degree in Fish and Wildlife Sciences from North Carolina State University and has worked for the Department of the Army, the Wildlife Departments of North Carolina and Missouri. He ran nature centers for many years in Missouri and Pennsylvania before buying the Backyard Bird Center in the Northland area of Kansas City. Mark has led hundreds of bird hikes both locally and abroad. He has taught classes about birds and other wildlife to groups of all ages and brings that knowledge to the customers of his retail business every day. More information about Mark at backyardbirdcenter.com/about-...
#marksbackyardbirds, #woodpecker, #woodpeckerdamage
FOLLOW
Facebook: / backyardbirdcenter
Instagram: / marksbackyardbirds
Do you want to be an Insider?
shopbackyardbirdcenter.com/pa...
Join our FREE Facebook Community Group:
/ 1055480298992527
SUPPORT
Visit our website: backyardbirdcenter.com
Shop our online store: shopbackyardbirdcenter.com
MORE INFORMATION
Contact: info@backyardbirdcenter.com
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:30 Woodpeckers
00:47 Why do woodpeckers hit on houses
01:45 Construction Workers of the Forest
02:00 Famous Stories
03:16 Interesting Fact about Woodpeckers and Shorebirds
04:25 How to keep Woodpeckers from damaging our houses
06:08 Scare tape
06:55 More Ways to Discourage Woodpeckers
Cover photo of a female Downy Woodpecker by Kurt Hoeper
Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something we'll receive a small commission.
Mark's Amazon store:
www.amazon.com/shop/marksback... - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
Thank you.
You're welcome!
Thank you for sharing WHY wp insist on house siding damage.. that info helps with informed decisions
Thank you
You are most welcome!
The woodpeckers at my house are not easy to get rid of. I've done 4-5 different methods. Every spring and fall season for the last 5 years they come back. I love nature, but I'm very angry about it and frankly wish it was legal to shoot them.
Im in southeastern NC. Just started having a woodpecker issue on my Woodsided house.
I have a fluorescent light that I leave on 24 hours a day. It is only a few feet above on the outside, where the woodpecker has become insistent on attacking my house. As soon as you mentioned about the electrical current and their ability to sense vibrations, I turned it off . Prayerfully that’s all it will take. Thank you.
Don’t forget about the rubber snake. They are generally quite effective. I’m from Robeson county myself.
Jesus receives a lot of prayers regarding woodpeckers, so it might take him a while,. He is trying to banish childhood cancer, but without much success...
Suppose I will try to find scare tape; might be a bit more attractive than nailing a fake snake to my siding. But will prob try that too!! Glad to hear I prob don’t have bugs underneath.
You can try mylar windsocks and streamers. They are a little more attractive.
Yes! Problem’s, just like my spouse! Lol but I do love him! 😂😂😂🎉🎉🎉
😂
Thanks. Will try these ideas.
Good luck!
I’m all about the rubber snakes and tinsel instead of scare tape. I use the rubber snakes in my garden to protect my tomato plants too! And in addition I have used mouse traps.. I have never caught any birds in them in ten years but it sure does scare them!
Rubber snakes have been my go to for 40 years now.
I been feeding my woodpeckers peanuts and when ism not out there in time they peck on my house then look upside down at me to see if iam going to give them peanuts
Sounds like they have you well trained 😁
What kind of glue to glue the snake on the cap of the pipe?
I’m use to tacking them up on wood. Not sure about what kind of glue would hold up best.
I have a lot of different varieties of woodpeckers and for the most part they have left my wood sided house alone but we have lots of woods so a better option for them. What I am curious about is several downy woodpecker have taken up residence in my bluebird houses. They do this every Fall/Winter but my concern is I was finally successfully with having 2 broods of bluebirds this past summer in 2 different houses. I believe it was the same parent’s and got to see them fledge, the first was 3 and second 2 (found 1 egg with a hole from a predator). Periodically I have all 7 bluebirds come back and check on both houses of which I removed the nest’s right after the babies fledged. I had them as recently as Christmas Eve & Day but not seen them since. I’m wondering if I should open the doors to these 2 boxes for remainder of winter to force the woodpecker to find another home but I don’t want to discourage the bluebirds if they come and find doors open and think not a suitable home. Wondering what your thoughts are?
It sounds like the Downy Woodpeckers are using the houses for roosting sites but not for nesting. This should only go on through the worst parts of winter. Our bluebirds here in Kansas City will roost in boxes at times but they seem to prefer just a thick evergreen shrub or tree. Bluebirds prefer about 100 yards of space between another nesting pair of bluebird's nest box. Winter bluebirds are often in small flocks and join in with other species to forage together (chickadees are often the key species in these flocks as they are very smart and good at finding food so other species follow them around). They move around a lot and unfrozen water is usually the key to their survival. The bluebirds you see in winter may not be the same that nested in your yard. If you want to discourage the Downies, opening the door will help but you may impact a Carolina Wren, chickadee or a bluebird that may want to use the box.
I've been listening to the comments about destructive woodpeckers. I have a garden swing suspended from an 10/12 foot, 4x4 treated wood post and the large pileated woodpecker is boring holes into the top. If I wrapped the post in stainless steel mesh, would this stop the problem? Thanks for any input on this.
It should if the mesh is small enough
We had a woodpecker do some damage to the side of our house around the chimney. At first my husband was upset about it until we realized that it brought to our attention all the wood rot in that chimney area caused by a small leak. After the repairs, the woodpecker did not peck on the house at all. I’ve always attracted and fed woodpeckers at my feeders.
My ridge vent of 40 feet is almost completely destroyed by what I'm sure is a woodpecker, my neighbor across the street has same problem and he saw them going at it.
They can do a lot of damage.
We have a cedar house and carpenter bees drilled into the railings around our porch. Alas a Pileated woodpecker about a foot tall has decided to eat every area that the bees have drilled. I'm going to try some of your ideas to scare them away.
Good luck. You can do it
I bought a silo type bird feeder and a bag of peanut chips. I think the holes in my feeder might be to small for the birds to get the peanut chips out. Should I get a feeder with bigger holes or just wait and c what happens? Just hung it up about a day ago but haven’t seen anything go for it!
Sorry for the late reply, have you had any activity yet? The peanut pieces generally require a standard size hole instead of a finch sized hole.
thanks for the suggestions... what kind of fake snake are you guys using? does size or type matter?
Any toy rubber snake that is visible really. Here is a link to the one we sell shopbackyardbirdcenter.com/search?q=rubber+snake
For the peanut idea, do you prefer shelled peanuts, whole unshelled peanuts, peanut butter or peanut-flavored suet? Or does it matter? Squirrels also love peanuts and can be a nuisance so I’m trying to find the best solution. Thank you.
Hi Brian, For woodpeckers, I believe in the shelled peanuts in a mesh peanut feeder. The mesh is small enough that the squirrels cannot get to the peanuts but the woodpeckers are able to peck them into smaller pieces and get them out. Hanging the feeder from under an eave gives it even more protection from squirrels. I find that all suet is effective as it is the beef fat that is the big attraction there.
Thanks for the advice, Mark. I’ll give it a try. I enjoy your videos.
1) do they have a build back better for woodpecker damage? 2) putting up all that reflective tape I can add lights and have John Travolta Take the stage. 3) add a peanut feeder and even have more squirrels come in and destroy the property. 4) decisions, decisions, decisions.
We have a feeder just for the cardinals but we don’t want woodpeckers constantly eating the food and scaring the cardinals away, any idea how to get rid of the woodpecker while keeping the cardinals
The simple solution would to offer up one feeder (perhaps an open tray), with just Safflower seed in it. Cardinals love it and most other bird tend to leave if you are offering any sunflower or peanuts.
I’m trying to attract woodpeckers to my hanging woodpecker blocks with peanut butter. No luck so far?
It can take a while, especially once insects become available to them.
Have a cedar tree that a woodpecker has drilled a lot of good size holes in it.
If it continues will a tree die?
Sorry I missed this while I was out of town. It is hard for a woodpecker to kill a tree. That being said, it can weaken it so other factors like insects, etc can do more harm and possibly kill it.
@@MarksBackyardBirds Thank You
Can they peck threw aluminum.
Not that I am aware of. They are typically hitting on aluminum to be load for the ladies.
The problem we have with woodpeckers is their drumming on metal vents and the chimney cover on the roof of our house, so for us the snake will be the best bet I think. The reflectors seem to be for vertical application. Is that correct? Are reflectors effective laying down flat on the roof? Where can I get rubber snakes--toy store, novelty shop (next to the whoopy cushions, no doubt) or some other outlet? Thanks for your help.
I agree
We have this issue now. Did the snake work?
@@samburgy We never got around to trying the "snake"; but we haven't ruled it out for future measures. What my wife has done though is every time the woodpecker comes a-knockin', she goes outside with a small branch cluster--not much more than a twig in thickness but fanned out for intimidation power--and shakes it at the woodpecker. She's on the ground while he's up on the roof. It has taken about six tries, but his visits have become fewer and farther apart. Her last threatening gestures at the wp were about 3 weeks ago, and he hasn't been back since. Hopefully he's taken the hint. Good luck with getting rid of your wp problems.
Why would a woodpecker be making a 1-1/2" to 2 " hole directly in the middle of the shingles on my house, nesting, storing food...?
It's the third one in the last month. Thanks
Your house is perceived as the biggest, softest tree in the forest. They are constantly drilling holes of that size for potential roosting and or nesting sites
@@MarksBackyardBirds thanks for the reply. Is it seasonal or will they drill any time of the year?
Any time of the year. It is just what they do. Have you tried a rubber snake?
I have blue jays doing this to my home, ruining the paint job! Does anyone have a solution for this? Thank You!
The methods I covered in this video should work against Blue Jays as well.
@@MarksBackyardBirds Oh, Thank You so very much for your quick reply! I’m very grateful for it. Someone suggested placing aluminum foil nearby and we tried that, but they weren’t put off by it. So yes, my next plan was to use these retail bird-scarers and hope for the best. Great work on your videos! Thank You again!
MY WOODPECKER IS PECKING MY METAL DRAINPIPES
Maximum volume for his advertising for a mate.
How do I repair a big hole that woodpeckers did to my house?
You will likely have to hire a handyman man to patch the hole.
No one is going to see you use your BB gun. Problem solved!
BB gun doesn’t do anything to the big flickers
Scare tape didn’t do a thing to deter them.
Unfortunately, no method or 100%, hopefully a rubber snake will work.
THEY WILL EAT DOG FOOD ALSO
Keep the dog food indoors
GET TO THE POINT....PLEASE!