Woody Woodpecker might have been the entertainer of your childhood, however, his real version will definitely serve you less fun and more trouble. Woodpeckers can be a real nuisance when they decide to feast on your house siding. These boisterous birds are known not only for producing a very irritating and aggravating noise but also causing a lot of damage to your house exterior. Woodpeckers are capable of drilling through various materials and once they penetrate the property’s façade, they leave openings that allow moisture to get inside, as well as create entry points for other animals.
Why do woodpeckers drill into homes?
Woodpeckers are not vicious animals – their drilling is nothing but a call of nature. These birds are making the noise simply to claim territory or to attract a mate. Other reasons for drilling into your home are: creating a nest or roost hole, storing food, or feeding on insects in the house siding. It is crucial to remember that if woodpeckers find your home attractive for storing food or building a nest, they are likely to pass that information to the next generation. Hence why it is important to act fast.
Siding choice
Choosing a siding that’s not attractive to woodpeckers is the best way of prevention. These birds are certainly less interested in sidings made of fiber cement (most common solution as woodpeckers avoid cement at all costs), stone or brick, SmartSide, and insulated vinyl siding. Properties with wood sidings are extremely vulnerable and most likely to be damaged.
Eliminate insect infestations
As we mentioned above, woodpeckers often use your home siding as a table full of delicious treats. Removing insects from the outdoor structures is a step that you need to take when dealing with woodpeckers. These birds like to feed on carpenter ants, termites, and carpenter bees – so if you identify any of those insects in the holes and gaps of your siding, you should get rid of them as soon as possible.
Fix the damage
If you have been struggling with woodpeckers previously and now want to prevent them from coming back, you should focus on repairing the damage they have left. We recommend starting with plugging up the holes in siding holes, roof shingles, and trees. To do so, you can use materials such as structural adhesive epoxy putty or wood putty, depending on the damage you are trying to fix.
Prevention
One of the best ways of protecting your house from woodpeckers and other wildlife is to take action before the infestation and damage occur. You can find a variety of woodpecker deterrents available on the market that will help you with keeping those birds away from your house. You should also consider installing a bird-repellent tape to tree trunks to protect the trees. If you have a dead tree in your garden, you may want to focus the birds’ attention on it by installing a bird feeder – this way the woodpeckers won’t be as interested in living trees as they normally would be. If you’d like to learn more, go to wildlifehumane.org for more information on how to deal with woodpeckers.
