How to Get Rid of Birds Pecking at Wood

Woodpeckers may be beautiful, but they cause a lot of damage.

While woodpeckers typically peck at trees to find insects to eat, they can also attack your home, fence, or anything else made out of wood. Not only is the noise irritating, it also causes unsightly damage. Woodpeckers are federally protected and you cannot legally capture or kill them. Instead, you need to find other ways to get rid of them and keep them from pecking holes into your wooden structures.

Things You'll Need

• Woodpecker repellant
• Mesh screens
• Wood staples
• Paint additive
• Paint
• Reflective tape
• Old board or log

Instructions

1. Hire an exterminator to inspect your home. While woodpeckers sometimes peck wood for other reasons, the primary reason is for food. If you have a bug problem in your home, the woodpeckers will continue to return.

2. Spray a woodpecker repellant on the area that attracts the birds. This repellant is unattractive to the birds and leads them to find a new place to peck.

3. Install mesh screens from your gutters to protect the soffits of your home. Use wood staples to secure the screens just below your gutters and extend them to the far edge of the wood. The woodpeckers won't be able to reach the wood soffits and will move on.

4. Repaint the wood structures using a mixture of paint and a woodpecker repellant paint additive. Similar to repellant spray, the additive makes the wood unappealing.

5. Apply reflective tape around the wooden structures. When sunlight flashes off the tape, it scares away the woodpeckers. This method won't be as effective on cloudy days or when the sun isn't shining directly on the tape.

6. Place an insect-infested board or log in an unseen area of your yard to attract the woodpeckers and keep them away from your other wood structures. If they can find food elsewhere, they are less likely to bother your home or fence.

Tips & Warnings

• If nothing you do repels the birds, call your local wildlife services for help. With a special permit, wildlife services can trap, and even kill, woodpeckers.

References

• Chicago Tribune: To Stop Woodpeckers, Get Rid of Insects
• United Wildlife Control: Woodpecker Trapping, Removal & Prevention
• Bird Busters: Pest Bird Species