PROBLEM: WOODPECKERS ARE PECKING AT OUR HOUSE!
If woodpeckers are drumming or pecking at your house, the first thing to consider is what type of noise they are making. Woodpeckers make two different pecking noises:
- A loud, rapid drumming noise on resonant surfaces occurring in bursts of 1-2 seconds is their way of announcing their presence in a territory or attracting a mate during the breeding season. This type of behavior is their way of signaling or communicating like song in other birds. This type of behavior usually subsides once the breeding season passes.
- The sound of light, irregular pecking often indicates they are pecking for food or excavating a nest hole.
Once you have determined the cause for the pecking, here are some remedial actions you can take:
- Since resident woodpeckers drum against hard, resonant surfaces to proclaim territory, they are likely to return to the same spot repeatedly during the breeding season. Drumming won't physically damage your house but can be aggravating when the activity happens in the early morning or the site is a metal gutter, downspout or the wooden siding of a house. To discourage drumming, deaden the resonant area by filling with caulk or try to modify the surface of the chosen site by covering it with fabric or foam. It might also work to provide an alternative drumming site by nailing two boards together at just one end and hanging on a secure surface.
- If the pecking activity is not restricted to one site or occurs throughout the year, the birds are likely drilling for food. They are attracted to insect infested wood. Your first step is to control the insects. Consult with a licensed pest control operator on how to remove the pests and make necessary repairs.
- You may observe the woodpecker drilling a cavity for nesting, roosting or caching food. Look for round, deep openings, often near knot holes in boards. In the spring and summer, assume there is an active nest with eggs or hatchlings inside, wait until you are sure all the birds have fledged the nest, then immediately repair the openings. Plug small holes with caulking or wood filler, larger ones with wooden plugs, steel wool or wire screen before sealing.
- Woodpeckers prefer cedar and redwood siding but will damage pine, fir, cypress and others when choices are limited. Natural or stained wood surfaces are preferred over painted wood. Particularly vulnerable to damage are rustic-appearing channeled (grooved to simulate reverse board and batten) plywoods with cedar or redwood veneers. Imperfections (core gaps) in the intercore plywood layers exposed by the vertical grooves may harbor insects. Woodpeckers often break out these core gaps, leaving characteristic, narrow horizontal damage patterns in their search for insects.
- At the first sign of woodpecker activity on your house, woodpeckers can be scared away by making noises at a nearby window or against the adjacent inside wall. Hang strips of foil, fabric or commercially available bird netting hung from the eaves to deter the birds. Other scare tactics include hanging balloons in the area, a child's pinwheel, flash tape, strings of shiny, noisy tin can lids, wind chimes and/or pulsating water sprinklers. Care should be taken not to scare birds away from an active nest.
- If these scare tactics don't work, create a physical barrier by screening the site with hardware cloth, sheet metal, or nylon bird netting. Netting is one of the most effective methods of excluding woodpeckers. A mesh of 3/4" is usually recommended. At least 3" of space should be left between the netting and the damaged building so that birds cannot cause damage through the netting.
- If you have a birdfeeder that attracts woodpeckers, you might think removing your feeder will cause the bird to leave. Just the opposite may be true. Keeping a feeder full of suet may discourage the birds not to look at your house for food!
- If you have dead trees in your yard, you might think removing them and the insects they harbor will solve your woodpecker problems. Again, the opposite may be true. Cutting down dead and decaying trees deprives the birds of nesting, drumming and food sites and may force them to take a look at your house.
PROBLEM: HOW DO I KEEP BEES AND WASPS AWAY FROM MY HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS?
The best way to avoid bees is to deny them access to the syrup. The HummZinger, HummZinger Excel and the Hummerfest feeders are inherently bee and wasp-proof because the syrup level is too low for insects to reach, but easily in range of the shortest hummingbird tongue. If you choose not to try a new feeder and bees or wasps persist, first try moving the feeder, even just a few feet; insects are not very smart, and will assume the food source is gone forever. They may never find it in its new location, while the hummingbirds will barely notice that it was moved. If that doesn't work, take the feeder down for a day, or until you stop seeing wasps looking for it. You'll see hummingbirds looking for it, too, but they won't give up nearly as soon as the wasps.
