How to Keep Woodpeckers Away

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Below is my advice for keeping woodpeckers off of your house. However, if it proves ineffective in your case, you have the option to hire a Professional Wildlife Removal Company in your area to take care of the problem. You may also email me with any questions you have.

Woodpeckers can be attracted to your home if you have wood siding or live in a log home. Woodpeckers can find even this wood irresistible and they will start to make a hole in it in no time. Besides the problem of the hole in your siding, it can also attract other birds or even squirrels that will see it as the perfect place for a nest. Every animal working its way into your home can cause additional damage. But this can all be prevented if you keep the woodpeckers away in the first place and how can you do that? Animal experts give different tips on keeping the woodpecker pest away from your home and siding.



What Attracts The Woodpecker? - Your home may be a source of food for the woodpecker and you may not even know it. If there is a bug infestation in your home the woodpecker will see that as food and will settle in your home because of the easy access to the bugs. Keeping your house bug free will help you avoid woodpeckers and keep the siding intact. Have your home treated for bugs regularly and stay alert to possible infestation so you can remove them before the bird finds them. The wood peckers will also be attracted to a house if they started a hole in there, so if you have a woodpecker that has started making a hole in your siding you must plug it as soon as you notice it.

Scare The Woodpecker Away - For as much noise as a woodpecker can make, they actually do not like other loud sounds. But if you are not home all the time it is difficult to make the noise required to scare away this winged carpenter. You can however get motion sensors that will make a noise when they sense the bird. They can be extremely effective because they do not allow the bird to get comfortable and so it will just find another place. One of the other ways to scare the woodpecker with noise is by playing specific sounds that will frighten it away. The sounds do not have to be loud but if the wood pecker hears a fellow bird in distress along with the sounds of a bird of prey it will fly away. You can get these recordings at home and gardening stores everywhere.

You can also use plastic molds of those birds of prey the woodpecker is afraid of. They include owls or hawks but they have to be realistic for the deception to work. You must also keep changing their location so the unwanted bird does not catch on to the fact that they are not real. Using those fake birds together with their sounds is even more effective. Plastic snakes can also work because they are all natural predators. Woodpeckers prefer to stay in a place they feel comfortable in, so if you keep the noise and the scare tactics going it will not stay for long.

Use Woodpecker Repellents - There are repellents you can also utilize to keep woodpeckers away. There is bird repellent tape that can be bought at home and garden stores that is pretty effective in keeping the birds from coming to your house. There is also the homemade option of installing something that will reflect the sunlight. Aluminum foil works perfectly and it is something you may already have in your house. You can choose to hang strips of aluminum foil close to where the woodpecker is working, or you can even use an aluminum foil pan as they too will reflect the sunlight.



Distract Them - There is the last option that you have of distracting the birds. The things that can work the best are dead logs, or placing bird food somewhere else. If the food is placed in a location the bird will see as an easy meal, it will decide against your siding and go for the seeds. The woodpecker is a beautiful bird, but it can cause some serious damage. Finally, if you’re still having problems you are best to call in a professional to help rid you of this pest.

Trap the Woodpeckers - Yes, there are specialized traps that can and do effectively catch woodpeckers alive. Some are even lethal, if you can get a permit. Read more about woodpecker trapping here.

Net the House - In my experience, the only truly 100% effective way to keep woodpeckers off your house is to install netting on the home. I use large L-shaped brackets and install them (drill them into) the side of the house where the woodpeckers are pecking, (or affix them with adhesive if you don't want more holes in your house - ha!). I then attach a large lightweight black plastic polynet to the L-brackets, and this creates a net that is extruded from the side of your house, which prevents the birds from being able to land and perch on the side of the house. This type of project is easy if the birds are pecking at a small area, but difficult if you have a large wooden house and they are pecking everywhere. But it can still be done. Just leave the nets up for a few weeks or even months, and the woodpecker will learn to use a different area.

Can I Kill the Woodpecker? - Not legally, no. They are protected by the federal migratory bird protection act. If you are having so much trouble that you wish to kill the woodpecker, then maybe you should hire a pro who is experienced in bird control. You can click my home page to find a pro in your area. This is my advice on how to keep away woodpeckers, if the above do-it-yourself tactics fail. Here is an article about How to keep vultures away. For other bird removal and control information, go to may main bird removal page.