How Do I Keep Woodpeckers from My Siding?
In ancient culture, woodpeckers were symbols of good luck, but your siding is unlikely to agree with that summation. This noisy feathered species is as happy to peck at your house as it is your landscaping. While your old oak tree is adept at healing its own woodpecker wounds, your house will need a little help.
One woodpecker attack racks up an average loss of $300 per event, and few insurance policies cover it. Animal damage is typically classified as preventable, so it’s up to homeowners to handle the fallout.
Woodpecker damage can leave holes and scrapes in your siding, fascia, and corner boards. Those marks might seem unremarkable at first, but any break in your siding creates a potential leak that can attract mold, wood rot, and mildew. Ultimately, your insulation can be affected, so your R-value could decline. If the guilty woodpecker is successful at creating a breeding site in your siding, you can expect more birds to follow—and that comes with even more destruction.
How to Keep Woodpeckers Away
Woodpeckers pound at your house for three reasons: To find food, create nests, and attract other birds. Once you understand those three motives, you’re better equipped to keep them away. Misdirection is an excellent woodpecker deterrent for hungry birds. A well-placed seed and nut feeder might do the trick even better, though. Add a woodpecker birdhouse, and your feathered residents will be too happy to bother with your home. It might even convince you to finally take up bird watching.
How to Get Rid of Woodpeckers on Cedar Siding
Soft wood is perfect for baby birds, so that beautiful cedar might not keep its aesthetic value for long. If you create distance between food sources and your siding, you can limit nesting behaviors. Trees are a vibrant food source, so now’s the time to replant or cut back your landscaping. You can also deter nesting birds by making sure your home is inadequate for their needs. If your siding is too hard to accommodate a deep nest cavity, fertile woodpeckers will seek out better pastures.
How to Stop Woodpeckers from Pecking at Your Wood Siding
Woodpeckers and cedar siding are a match made in hell. This iconic material is soft and easy to nest in. It also creates the low knocking noise woodpeckers prefer when communicating with one another. Plywood is just as ineffective as a deterrent, so hardwood is a better alternative. Fiber cement and vinyl are hard enough to resist pecking, but if you’re not ready to give up your dreams of a beautiful cedar home, you can try visual deterrents.
How to Repel Woodpeckers from Cedar Siding with Sound and Light
Woodpeckers are easily frightened, so movement, sound, and reflection could keep curious birds at bay. Many homeowners use aluminum flashing, foil strips, and balloons. That does little for the aesthetics of your architecture, though, and it’s unlikely to suffice on its own. An electronic repellant is a discreet and inexpensive way to bolster your physical barriers.
How to Get Rid of Woodpeckers Pecking at Your House Permanently
A bird hotel can only house so many feathered residents, and even the shiniest of balloons loses its fear factor eventually. If your neighborhood has a strong woodpecker population, you’ll need a more robust solution. Your choice of cladding is the single most effective deterrent on the market today.
Hard vinyl or fiber-cement siding provides no nutrients for birds. It’s difficult to peck through and makes for a poor communication channel. Once you’ve installed a woodpecker-proof exterior, you can say goodbye to neighborhood pests for good.
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