Any advice on getting rid of woodpeckers??

Handyman4Hire

Been having trouble with woodpeckers pecking holes in siding and nesting in the walls. I have asked several experts and can't really get a good solution from anyone.

handy man88

I've read somewhere that woodpeckers peck because they are looking for food. Maybe they hear insects inside your house.

creeper

This reminds me of when I was having an ongoing battle with a cardinal who was constantly pecking away at a basement window. In his case he saw his own reflection and was fighting the "other" bird for territory rights. Most birds are typically afraid of people. I happened to have a full page close up picture (daughter was doing a school project) of Roberta Bondar's face. I taped that up and he never came to the window again. (No offence to Roberta...we think she is awesome!!) Alas, he moved off to my brand new Acadia. I also won that battle after a week of installing shopping bags over the review mirrors.

Back to your problem...some sort of weather proof person duct taped to the siding where the little pecker has taken up residence will hopefull send him packing soon

oh'mike

They peck for several reasons--but how to get them to stop is a mystery to everyone--

They hear sound from inside of the house--a ticking clock--vibrations from the dryer--any thing and
it sounds like lunch---peck holes usually outline the framing of the house--

Next are the nests---they need a tall dead tree----no standing dead trees in your suburb?

One neighbor tried a shot gun---missed the bird and made a raccoon sized hole in his soffit--

If you ever do find a solution please let me know---(most are a protected species so don't kill them,please)

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PAbugman

-They also peck during mating season; it’s called “drumming”. Try to stop mating from happening! In our other house they would drum on aluminum siding. In your case it sounds as if it is for nesting which is even more destructive.

I also had a male cardinal that pounded our windows, truck mirrors, etc. I taped up animal pictures to no avail, including ferocious coyotes, etc. The most effective deterrent was our young sons large stuffed monkey with a happy face. Put it in a chair near the window and that window was safe.

Try some kind of scarecrow/alarm tactics. Keep changing locations, sounds, etc as birds quickly realize it’s no threat. Keep it simple but vary it often.

Blondesense

We had the same problem when we lived in Oklahoma. I covered the holes with small metal plates and they just moved over a couple of inches and drilled more. You might try covering the holes and then hanging cheap aluminum pie plates (so they will swing and spin) as close as possible to discourage them from coming back, but once they consider it home, you're gonna have a hard time evicting them.
If you have to, DH recommends a BB gun rather than a shotgun, assuming of course, they are not protected.

creeper

chicken wire installed on top of the siding

Missouri Bound

Owl statues, plastic with mounts for the side of the house will help. How many you need will depend on the size of your home. The ones that move with the wind are probably the best bet. They'll be a deterrent, but may not stop them completely. I feed the woodpeckers with a suet feeder and they leave my house alone.

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mickey cassiba

Woodpeckers also hammer to attract mates(Yup it's true). Found this out when we lived next to an abandoned house with a tall metal chimney liner that extended out of the brick chimney. During the early spring they would hammer on the pipe. Sounded like a brass band.

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Mickey

One of these hammers will fix it.

Handyman4Hire

Funny you mention that my client actually had a plastic owl that he thought would scare the wood pecker away. When we took it down the wood pecker had pecked a hole about the size of a baseball in its head.

joecaption

Google Bird X, and Bird B Gone for some good info.

Tom Struble

try hanging old cd's the movement and light reflection tends to discourage them

KatHelms

Hahah, that made my afternoon, thanks!

OffRoadAudio

Shoot them. It works.

KatHelms

Please don't kill them - besides being illegal in most areas, they eat a ton of bugs.

I had a friend who would laugh at how his dad used to put mousetraps on his siding, and he didn't understand why that turned my stomach.