How to Keep Woodpeckers Off House Siding

Woodpeckers can be helpful for your garden by preying on harmful insects.

Woodpeckers can be a nuisance, drumming on the wood siding of your house. In addition to the annoying noise, their drilling can do significant and costly damage to the siding. There are a variety of solutions for getting rid of a persistent woodpecker. Some solutions depend on the time of year and the possible reason a woodpecker has chosen to drill on your house. If it is spring it may be trying to impress a potential mate or is building a nest. If it is winter, food scarcity from other sources could be driving it to try your siding. Remedy the situation as soon as you notice a woodpecker targeting your home.

Things You'll Need

• Aluminum foil
• Bird feeder and suet
• Bird-repellent tape
• Reflective, moving wind ornaments
• Plastic bird of prey
• Recording of woodpecker distress call and predator call
• Motion detector
• Bird netting
• Aluminum flashing
• Exterior paint
• Paintbrush

Instructions

1. Inspect your siding for insect infestations. Carpenter bees, termites and other wood-burrowing pests making their home in siding attracts woodpeckers. Call a pest control company to get rid of the insects.

2. Entice the woodpeckers away from the house by setting up a bird feeder with suet several yards away. Keep it well stocked in fall, winter and spring when the birds are the hungriest. Remove the feeder in summer because hot weather makes suet sticky and it may get on the birds' plumage. Planting nut or berry trees or shrubs can lure woodpeckers away from the house.

3. Hang strips of aluminum foil or bird-repellent tape from the house where the woodpecker is tapping. Secure one end of the strip and let the other hang free. The visual glinting of the aluminum in the sun often repels birds. Hanging reflective windsocks, pinwheels or whirligigs from the eaves serves the same purpose.

4. Attach a plastic owl or other bird of prey from the eaves of the house to scare away the birds. Move the plastic model to a different location every few days so the woodpeckers do not become used to it.

5. Play a recording of a woodpecker distress call coupled with the call of a bird of prey intermittently near the woodpecker's favorite site. Garden centers have a selection of these kinds of recordings.

6. Install a motion detector that triggers some noise when it is tripped to scare away the birds.

7. Cover the underside of the eaves with netting to keep out woodpeckers and other birds. Use netting specifically designed for repelling birds so the woodpeckers are less likely to get tangled in it. Leave at least 3 inches between the net and the side of the house.

8. Cover holes and corners of the eaves with aluminum flashing to keep the birds out. Paint it to match the siding.

Tips & Warnings

• If the woodpecker has established a nest in your house containing eggs or young, do not seal the entry hole until the young have left the nest. This usually occurs by the middle of summer. Do not use any deterrent methods until this time. Then you can seal the hole and take steps to deter the birds.

• Siding other than wood siding will not attract woodpeckers.

• Do not kill the bird. Woodpeckers are federally protected species. At the least, the woodpecker serves a useful purpose consuming insects in the area.

• Avoid sticky bird repellent products. The sticky substance can cling to a woodpecker's feathers and interfere with its flying and insulating abilities. The substance also can stain your house and attract dirt.

References

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology: General Woodpecker Deterrents
• Home Siding Center: Protecting Your Wood Siding From Woodpeckers