Conference 7.286::home_work

I'm no ornothologist, but I thought wookpeckers are big on bugs.  Could it be 
this bird is trying to tell you that there are bug infested locations in your
walls/chimney?

Might be worth taking a closer look at where the pecking is going on.

-mark

Re: -1

I am thinking the same thing, but for days, it just stood on the top of
the chimney until I put a metal wire "cap" on it, havn't got a chance to
spot where it stood after that.

Could be bugs, and it's worth checking.  But I think in the spring woodpeckers 
like to find boards with a particular resonance and rap on them.  I think it 
has something to do with establishing their territory.  If you find no bugs, 
then you're out of luck as far as I know unless you can find a way to damp the 
sound so the bird won't get enough noise out of it and will leave it alone.

Paul

    I think .3 is right.  A few years ago I had a woodpecker come and
    tap on my metal chimney every morning before my normal wake-up time.
    I figured it was some sort of `finding a mate' ritual.
    
    	The interesting point about it is that the rhythm of his tapping
    was exactly the same as Woody Woodpecker's call!  (Can't duplicate
    here on the terminal, but if you remember the cartoons, you know
    what I mean)

The bird is coming earlier every day, I guess I have to become an 
"early bird" too :-)

    Maybe if you put a big, ceramic hawk on the roof you'll scare him
    away.  Or some other natural enemy of woodpeckers.  Then, there's
    always the Remington remedy ;-)
    

    I advise AGAINST the Remington remedy...
    a friend of mine had a woodpecker pecking at his redwood siding
    early in the morning. After a couple of weeks he resorted to the
    R.R. 
    He'll probably have all the (bird-shot) holes filled in when this
    birds grand-children come along.
    
    The neighbors thought it was funny as h...
    
    Rich
    

     
        I did a dir/title on this subject, but could not find anything in
    this file. 
    
        Does anyone have any ideas on how to prevent woodpeckers from
    "pecking" away at the side of our garage? The wall of the garage is
    shingled, and the little pests have started at least 4 holes near the 
    top of the wall. I have hung a few strips of cloth over the holes in the
    hope that when they blow in the breeze, they will scare them away.
    This, however, does not seem to work.
    
        Outside of using a shotgun at 30 paces, I am running out of ideas.
    
        Thanks

The woodpeckers  are looking for the bugs that are in the shingles.  Get rid of
the bugs and  the  birds will go away.  Course, if you use enough RAID, it will
be hard to tell if the birds left because of dead bugs or too much RAID.

Dave

    Woodpeckers LOVE termites(sp?). So they may be telling you where
    some are hidden in your building. As .1 suggests, get rid of the
    bugs and you may get rid of your woodpecker problem.
    

This note has been temporarily write-locked pending approval of the author.

To the author:  This subject is already under discussion in this file, under the
topics listed in the title.  Please look at these notes; you may find that your
question is already answered, or you may find a note where your question would
be an appropriate continuation of the discussion.  Note that since nearly
everyone uses NEXT UNSEEN to read notes, your question will get the same
exposure whether it is a response to a two-year-old note or it is its own new
note. These topics were found using the keyword directory (note 1111), and you
may find other notes relating to this subject by examining the directory
yourself. 

We do, however, welcome new notes if they explore a specific aspect of a 
problem that may be under general discussion.  And this moderator has been 
known to make mistakes. :^)  So if after examining these notes, you wish to 
continue the discussion here, send me mail.

Paul [Moderator]

    I have a woodpecker that likes the sound of his pecking, but we don't. 
    He has picked the 2 sideboards next to the natural siding.  Both have
    huge holes in them.  I checked no bugs at all.  I have heard of hanging
    something to scare them away - any ideas before he destroys our house?
    For the past 3 yrs. he has been in the woods and never bothered the
    house, now he LOVES the house....peckpeckpeck....
    
    thanks
    
    Rich

    Plastic Barn Owl.  Check at Brookstones, they carried them about 6
    months ago.

    thanks, i'll give it a try.
    
    

    OR TRY AGWAY.....plenty o' owls

hi,

	We are having problem with woodpecker chiping away our side of the 
	house.  It already drew few holes.  How can we stop this?

	We are very concerned about this but don't know how to go about.  If
	anyone out there had similar problem, please give me some advice.

	thanks 

	kia

	

    You may try and get rid of the the bugs that pecker is looking for!
    The usually attack bug infested wood. Check for rought.
    
    Dave'
    

    
    	I had a woodpecker hammering on my ridge vent a couple of weeks
    	ago.  It can't be after bugs.. the vent is aluminum.  I think it
    	was trying to establish territory or impress a mate.  I bought an
    	inflatible snake at the garden shop and attached it to the vent...
    	no more woodpecker (he moved to my neighbor's chimney cap!).
    
    	Ed

re .15:

Let's see.  The woodpecker is making one hole in your house.  The shotgun
will make many holes.  I don't get it.

    Recommendations in a newspaper column adressing this very question were
    to make it hard for the woodpecker to get a foothold on your house and
    make sure he's not looking for food (i.e. bugs).
    
    As someone mentioned, it's not always food they are after.  They may be
    banging away to attact a mate.  Apparently some female woodpeckers are
    more attracted to males banging on aluminum.  I guess they are heavy
    metal fans ;^)

    Re: shotgun
    
    Just a joke, but then again, if you wait too long to blast 'em, there'd
    be more woodpecker holes in the siding than shotgun pellet holes...
    
    John
    

    
    The silhouette of a hawk will keep some birds away but I don't know if
    woodpeckers are among them. You can find cardboard cut-outs of hawks at
    feed stores or places where they sell bird seed in bulk. Might be worth
    a try.
    
    I was wondering why that hairy woodpecker was taking such an interest
    in the telephone pole across the street...I didn't think any bugs would
    be living in it.
    
    JP

re .19:

>    I was wondering why that hairy woodpecker was taking such an interest
>    in the telephone pole across the street...I didn't think any bugs would
>    be living in it.

It happens sometimes.  I've seen the results - top of carpenter-ant-infested
pole breaks off during storm, wires carring several thousand volts make
contact with power feeds to several cottages, two of which burn to the ground.

-Mike

Re: .15 and .18

I hope you really were joking--killing a woodpecker without the necessary
permits is a federal offense in the US, Canada, Mexico, and almost every
European country (I don't know about Asian countries).  Offenses are
punishable by fines and/or prison terms in the US and Canada (I don't
know about other places).

Re: 12

Woodpeckers would be banging on your house for one or more of three reasons:
food, attracting a mate, or building a nest.  If they're looking for food,
it's probably because they hear something--bugs, or perhaps mice (the sounds
mice make in a wall sometimes fool woodpeckers into thinking there are
bugs present).  Get rid of the bugs/mice and the woodpeckers will go away.

If the woodpecker is a male, it may be trying to attract a mate.  That
behavior will stop shortly when the mating season ends.  The tactics already
mentioned for trying to scare the bird away might cause him to give up faster.

If you want better or more advice, I'd suggest going to the CLT::WILD_BIRDS
conference and asking there.  Hit KP7, etc...  I don't see a topic there
about woodpeckers and houses, so feel free to start a new one.

If you live near the southern New Hampshire area, I might be able to come
out and ID the bird for you.  That might help in deciding whether or not
it's trying to attract a mate or looking for food.

	- karl freburger (cltvax::freb)

    
    I had one banging at my barn on and off for a few weeks about a
    month ago...  he must have been looking (and found) that perfect mate,
    cause he hasn't been seen or heard from lately.  
    
    Pretty strange seeing a woodpecker pecking at a building!  
    
    /Jeff
                                           

    
    unlikely to be a federal offence in England, we're a monarchy.
    
    
    Tower of London may be a distinct possibility 8-)
    
    Simon

I don't see the problem.

	1. Name it WOODY.
        2. Advertise that Woody lives at your place.
        3. charge admission,sell Woody T-shirt,hats with bull's eye on them
           (for those who want real Woody souvenirs).
        4. Make 8.5 million dollars.
        5. Pay 2.5 million on court cost,trade mark violations ect.
        6. Buy a new house.
        7. Write a book (My adventures with Woody).
        8. Make 3.5 million dollars.
        9. Pay 495 thousands on court cost,trade mark violations ect.
       10. Buy a new boat,a second (get away) house. 
       11. Write a book (How I made my millions).
       12  ect.

I don't see the problem. What's the problem.

    Re: .24
    
    I love it: the American Way. :-)
    
    PBM
    

    
    We just started with a woodpecker sitting inside the end of our
    aluminum gutter pecking away between 6:00 and 7:00 am.  It wasn't 'til
    the 4th morning that I even figured out where the noise was coming
    from.  I thought it was a plumbing problem (see note 2424.??)  Anyway,
    this morning I stuck a toy stuffed cat up there.  I'll wait now and see
    what happens.  I could hear another woodpecker on the next street over
    giving someone else the same grief!  Weekday mornings I'm up anyway,
    but if he's here on the weekend he's dead!!   :^)
    
    Chris D.