How to stop Woodpeckers from Pecking your House or Building
Have you been sleep deprived from the noise of woodpeckers? If yes, then I can relate to you. Initially, I thought that these woodpeckers have some personal grudge on me that they did not want to leave me in peace for a moment. But later, when I did some research, I found out that they have their reasons. I learned some interesting methods on how to stop Woodpeckers from pecking your house. In this article, we are going to highlight the reasons for their pecking and some of cool DIYs.
Why do woodpeckers peck houses or buildings?
Attracting a mate
During the months of April and May, it’s their breeding season and they tend to make loud drumming noises to mark territory for them and attract a mate. You can simply wait for a few days, as they are most likely to stop doing this once their breeding season is over.
Building a nest
If they are making holes in the walls of your house, it means they are creating nests. This also happens around the breeding season and the holes for nests are round and large. If you intend to remove or fill up these holes, you should consider doing it before or after the breeding season.
Looking for Insects
Many birds like feeding on insects, this is true with woodpeckers. They usually peck the buildings to find underlying insects and make small and irregular holes for this purpose. You can call a professional exterminator to fix any underlying insect issue.
Storing food
They also make holes to store their food.
How to stop woodpeckers from pecking your house
There are many ways to stop them from causing damage to our houses. You can either redirect them to a new location or completely make them go away.
- Remove Trees
The trees and branches near the house can encourage them to peck the wall of the houses as they feel safe. If you remove nearby trees and branches from your yard, the woodpeckers will become exposed and vulnerable. - Provide them food
As mentioned earlier, they also make holes in the wooden walls to find insects for food. In order to counter this situation, you can provide them food elsewhere near your house. By doing this, you can stop them from damaging your house in their search for insects. - Make a nest
As they look for shelter in these holes, you can make a house or nest of their suitable size and place it near the pecking location. When they’ll find it, they can live in it instead of the holes they have created. - Insulate the site
You can insulate the place where they are drumming by placing a hollow wooden log or tree somewhere away from that area. As a result, they won’t be able to hear their noise and will possibly relocate to that tree. - Fix pest issues
It is possible that insects in your house are attracting them. You can consult professionals to do an insect inspection and treatment. - Fill the holes
You can fill the holes and paint them to remove all of the damage. Staining them with dark paints will be visually unattractive to the woodpeckers and they won’t come back.
There are some other techniques as well, like scaring them, using reflections, and putting decoy birds near them, which can be used if none of the above is effective.