[raylo32]

My next door townhouse neighbor passed away a few weeks ago and apart from some visits from relatives the place is empty. Today I hear what sounded like someone working over there hammering and such but no cars in the drive. Then I look out the back window and see this HUGE wodpecker working on the deck. I ran out on my deck and chased him off. A few minutes later he was back, I chase him off again... then rinse and repeat for a bunch of times. Now he is going around the corner of the deck that I can't see so I have no idea what he is up to. I go out then come home hours later and here he comes again. Damn, that bird is persistent. So what is he after? Can he do serious damage? I mean he looks huge, not the little 'peckers that hit my bird feeded in the winter.

 

[Yodaman]

Oh yea, major damage. Recoat the deck as soon as possible. You can try owl decoys. They work initially, but only for awhile. May buy you some time.
Generally they are looking for bugs. Any infestations in the deck lumber?

 

[nanuk]

Is this the one?
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/id

There is a great number of them in my property but they feed on carpenter ants. They can turn a fallen tree into dust in one day. You might have a serious carpenter ant infestation.

Magnificent bird (and rare), though I feel your pain.

 

[Nik333]

Interesting! I can't see why a bird would make a home in such a vulnerable place. . . so must be bugs.

 

[Yodaman]

Is this the one?
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/id

There is a great number of them in my property but they feed on carpenter ants. They can turn a fallen tree into dust in one day. You might have a serious carpenter ant infestation.

Magnificent bird (and rare), though I feel your pain.

I have seen this bird around my property as well. Truly magnificent.
Thankfully, no where near the home or out buildings.

 

[raylo32]

That's the one alright. No pain for me yet. I painted my deck just a couple years ago and is still in good shape. My neighbor lost her husband about 7 or 8 years ago and her deck didn't get much attention after that. So far Woody has not been on mine.

I have one of those owl decoys... It even has a solar powered head that rotates back and forth periodically. Didn't work for crap with my squirrels but maybe I'll put him out there for awhile and see what Woody thinks.

Is this the one?
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/id

There is a great number of them in my property but they feed on carpenter ants. They can turn a fallen tree into dust in one day. You might have a serious carpenter ant infestation.

Magnificent bird (and rare), though I feel your pain.

 

[nanuk]

They are very vocal too!

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/sounds

 

[SPS-1]

He's after the carpenter bee nests in the deck. Look from underneath. Carpenter bees like the rim joists, making holes from the bottom (1-1/2" wide face) of the board. Maybe the joists too, but for some reason, they seem to prefer the outside rim boards.

 

[ChuckF.]

A red-headed woodpecker is a big bird, and an impressive woodworker. When they are really going at it their whole head throws sawdust like a router bit. Researchers have looked at woodpeckers to see how they avoid brain concussions.

 

[lenaitch]

We have lots of Pileated woodpeckers here and yes, if they are regularly returning to a location they have found insects - they eat many types of wood-dwelling insect. If you watch them on a tree, you can see them 'listening' for tell-tale sounds of insects; they have incredible hearing. They don't make little holes like smaller woodpeckers or sapsuckers, they chisel out chunks of wood. I have seen a utility pole so badly damaged the power company had to replace it. A local pest control company or local wildlife centre might have some advice on how to keep them away. It may come down to treating the insect problem as opposed to the bird problem.
Two mornings ago I was woken up by a woodpecker banging on my aluminum eavestrough. He was asserting his territory with another nearby male and it made a he** of a racket.

 

[chrisn]

We have lots of Pileated woodpeckers here and yes, if they are regularly returning to a location they have found insects - they eat many types of wood-dwelling insect. If you watch them on a tree, you can see them 'listening' for tell-tale sounds of insects; they have incredible hearing. They don't make little holes like smaller woodpeckers or sapsuckers, they chisel out chunks of wood. I have seen a utility pole so badly damaged the power company had to replace it. A local pest control company or local wildlife centre might have some advice on how to keep them away. It may come down to treating the insect problem as opposed to the bird problem.
Two mornings ago I was woken up by a woodpecker banging on my aluminum eavestrough. He was asserting his territory with another nearby male and it made a he** of a racket.

There you have it in a nutshell.:yes:

 

[chrisn]

A red-headed woodpecker is a big bird, and an impressive woodworker. When they are really going at it their whole head throws sawdust like a router bit. Researchers have looked at woodpeckers to see how they avoid brain concussions.

Pretty rare around here and not nearly as big as the pileated ( which is also not very common). The red headed is very distinct with the black and white body and red head. The pileated is almost as big as a small crow and mostly black with a red head(males)

 

[Gary in WA]

Around here, the pileated are bigger than crows and both have the red crowns, only the males have the additional red throat slash, like in that link of Post 3, scrolling down...

Gary

 

[chrisn]

QUOTE=Gary in WA;3254833]Around here, the pileated are bigger than crows and both have the red crowns, only the males have the additional red throat slash, like in that link of Post 3, scrolling down...

Gary[/QUOTE]

true enough:thumbsup:

 

[Freedomsand]

I had woodpeckers make over 50 holes (I stopped counting) at this house when it had real wood cedar shakes, and no one was living here. Some holes were quite impressive. Initially I had someone caulk in the holes. I had a pest control guy in, and he said in Spring the males make the sounds for courting area females. He suggested I hold off having him do any work, as I was planning to have vinyl siding put up.

Sure enough 4 months later, I made sure I was present as the vinyl guys removed the shakes in the areas in the photos and . . NO DAMAGE under the cedar shakes! Even in the first photo, where is seems the hole is so deep, the 5 x 8 underneath the cedar shake had not been touched. So I had them go ahead and apply the vinyl siding.

If you know who is responsible for the property now (children, estate Executor), maybe as a courtesy you could let them know about this before it becomes a bigger issue.