How To Keep Woodpeckers Away From Your Home 2024 [Expert Tips]

How to Keep Woodpeckers Away From Your Home

Early morning drumming, Swiss cheese holes in your siding, and damage to wooden patio furniture are the classic signs of a woodpecker problem. If you need to know how to get rid of a woodpecker and keep them away for good, you have come to the right place.

Woodpeckers can be a major challenge; these pest birds cause substantial property damage and create a significant structural nuisance. Bird-B-Gone has the field-tested experience to help you protect your investment, keeping these birds in the forests and trees where they belong.

Get to Know Woodpeckers

Woodpeckers are members of the Picidae family of birds, a group that also includes sapsuckers, piculets, and wrynecks. Most woodpecker species live in forest habitats where they forage along tree trunks and branches for insects, small animals, and tree sap. They have zygodactyl feet developed specifically for walking vertically up and down bark and maintaining a strong grip. Woodpeckers also utilize long, stiff tail feathers to maintain their balance while pecking.

Woodpeckers are most famous for drumming; their loud, staccato cadences can be heard over long distances. They use their hard, sharp bills to rapidly strike a resonant surface in short, powerful bursts as a form of non-verbal communication. Each species has a unique drum roll pattern. If you think your neighborhood woodpeckers have a talent for choosing the loudest surfaces for their morning sessions, you are right. For woodpeckers, it is all about resonance; hollow trees, metal gutters, downspipes, and chimney covers are ideal for creating raucous drum rolls.

It is important to note that woodpeckers are protected by state and federal migratory bird laws. Any woodpecker control or management system must comply with these regulations. While they are a vital part of a healthy ecosystem, it can be difficult to remain grateful for them when they are waking you up at dawn by drilling holes into your home.

Step 1: Inspect the Woodpecker Damage First

Late winter is the best time to begin planning for woodpecker control. Woodpeckers are particularly active from February to June; effective prevention requires taking action before the birds move in and establish territory.

• Remove Dead Trees: Woodpeckers love dead tree snags, as they are full of bugs and provide ideal nesting spots. Keep these trimmed back from your home.
• Inspect for Wood-Boring Insects: If insects are living in your wood siding, woodpeckers will destroy your home to reach them. Have a reputable pest control company assess your home and clear out any underlying insect infestations.

Step 2: Choose an Effective Woodpecker Deterrent

Bird-B-Gone carries several safe, humane, and law-compliant solutions. Depending on the severity of your infestation, you can choose between visual scare tactics or heavy-duty physical barriers.

Solutions for New Woodpecker Problems

Woodpeckers are highly aware of perceived threats. If a woodpecker has just recently started drumming on your structure, scaring them away using light, motion, and sound is an effective deterrent:

• Woodpecker Deterrent Kit: The ideal first step for residential properties. It includes a high-visibility visual scare balloon, red reflective flash tape, and brackets for easy mounting.
• Visual Deterrents: Products like flash tape, scare balloons, and the motion-activated Reflect-A-Bird™ utilize natural sunlight and wind movement to create psychological distractions, frightening woodpeckers away from siding.
• Audible Deterrents: Systems like the Bird Chase Super Sonic™ play pre-recorded distress and predator calls at regular intervals. This alerts woodpeckers to local danger, causing them to flee the area.

Solutions for Medium to Severe Infestations

If woodpeckers have already established nesting or heavy foraging habits, visual scare tactics may not be enough. You will need to introduce physical barriers or sensory repellents to block or alter the target surfaces:

• Heavy-Duty Bird Netting: Installing a 3/4" mesh netting completely blocks woodpeckers from physically accessing your wood siding or eaves. This is a highly reliable, visually subtle, and permanent exclusion method.
• BeakGuard™ Woodpecker Deterrent: A harmless, elastomeric acrylic finish that can be painted directly onto wood, fiber-cement, stucco, aluminum, and vinyl siding. It communicates a warning signal that stops pecking behavior immediately.
• Avian Block Repellent Pouches: These pouches use passive scent technology to irritate a woodpecker's trigeminal nerve. Utilizing food-grade grape seed extract, they harmlessly repel birds from semi-enclosed spaces via a grape aroma that birds hate.

Partner with the Bird-B-Gone Experts

Layered solutions that combine multiple techniques are the most likely to meet with lasting success. Since 1992, Bird-B-Gone has led the industry in developing innovative commercial and residential bird control products. We are fully committed to providing the right tools tailored to your budget and structural needs.

Get rid of woodpeckers for good. Contact our technical support team today for expert advice on product selection and project planning.

CONTACT US: 800-392-6915 | nobirds@birdbgone.com | www.birdbgone.com