How to Keep a Pileated Woodpecker From Pecking on Your House

You can recognize a pileated woodpecker by its zebra-striped head and red crest.

When a pileated woodpecker singles out your home as a drumming site, your home may sustain substantial damage. These large, crow-sized birds, which are prominent in most of North America, hammer on wooden materials to attract mates, to establish their territory, to look for insects or to create nests or roosting sites. Aside from causing structural damage to your home, the hammering can also be a noisy nuisance. To stop a woodpecker from pecking on your house, take immediate action, because once it becomes set in its ways, the woodpecker will be difficult to get rid of.

Things You'll Need

• Nest boxes
• Bird feeders
• Suet
• Spoon
• Pan
• Balloons
• Reflective tape
• Hawk or owl decoy
• Bird netting
• Caulk

Instructions

1. Hang nest boxes on your home. Instead of pecking your home to make a nesting site, the woodpecker may decide to move into one of the boxes. Keep in mind that the pileated woodpecker is a large woodpecker species. Use a box that it can easily fit in.

2. Place bird feeders with suet around your home to attract the woodpecker so that he leaves your home alone. Suet is a high-energy feed made from animal fat that attracts insect-eating birds.

3. Bang a spoon on a pan near the site where the pileated woodpecker is pecking your home. The noise may scare off the bird, and he may decide to go elsewhere. Keep making the noise if the bird returns, and combine this tactic with other deterring methods to get the best results.

4. Incorporate scare tactics to frighten the woodpecker. Hang large, bright-colored balloons or vertical strips of reflective tape near the pecking site. A decoy predator bird, such as a hawk or owl, positioned near the pecking site can also scare off the pest bird.

5. Cover the area where the woodpecker pecks on your home with bird netting to make it inaccessible. Place the bird netting at least 3 inches away from the pecking site so that the bird cannot peck the wall through the netting.

6. Fill the holes made by the woodpecker with caulk. The bird won't be able to make noise by pecking the caulk and may decide to relocate.

7. Inspect the pecking site for insects that may be attracting the woodpecker. Consult a licensed pest control company if an insect infestation is present. Getting rid of the attractant may make the pileated woodpecker decide to move on.

Tips & Warnings

• The pileated woodpecker is protected under state and federal laws. Trapping, killing or otherwise harming the bird is illegal without the required permit.

References

• "National Geographic": Pileated Woodpecker
• Colorado State University; Woodpeckers; Judy Sedbrook
• University of Wisconsin; Controlling Woodpecker Damage; Scott Craven
• Colorado State University Extension; Preventing Woodpecker Damage; W.F. Andelt, et al.; May 2006