Are the little birds bothering you so much? How to get rid of woodpeckers? If you live anywhere in Southeast Asia or South America, it is usual to be accompanied by an unusual friend – a loud noisy woodpecker.
Woodpeckers are mainly solitary birds. But you don’t want a woodpecker on your property during the drumming season. It is during the winter and early spring when they continuously drum in the woods.
No, they don’t drum on wood to make a home. Rather, it’s mating call to other prospective mates and announcing its territory.
No matter which purpose the continuous drumming serves, it can be a real headache to us, especially when it happens near your window. Get ready for some sleepless hours!
It’s a natural instinct of the woodpeckers but is there a way to get rid of the lousy noise without hurting them? How to get rid of woodpeckers in the safest way? Let’s talk it out today!
Read our article carefully and you can safely get rid of the woodpeckers without hurting the woodpeckers and yourself.
Do You Know?
- There are 240 different species of woodpeckers, as recognized by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC).
- Woodpeckers have a special skull structure. It performs like a shock absorber and protects the brain from the impact of pecking.
- They are excellent climbers. They use their strong tail feathers and sharp claws to grip onto tree trunks and look for insects and larvae hidden beneath the bark.
- The primary diet of a woodpecker is generally insects, but they also eat fruits, nuts, and sap from trees.
- They are cavity nesters. They make holes in trees for nests, which are, later on, used by other birds and animals.
- They deliver specific rhythms in drumming to attract potential mates during the breeding season.
- Other than that, they peck to find food and communicate with other birds.
How to Get Rid of Woodpeckers?
Don’t take any action rapidly! Instead, learn beforehand and you can eradicate them properly from your property without any casualties.
Woodpeckers mainly feed on insects such as grubs, spiders, and ants. The second primary food is tree sap. So, if you live near a tree that has both, then you are in bad luck!
But cutting off the tree is not a solution. Read our steps carefully!
1) Identify the Food Source & Remove It
One of the primary reasons for woodpeckers to stay in localization is the availability of food. They are omnivorous and generally feed on insects, bees, and termites.
The little pests are the reason why you have loud guests in your home. You can initially remove the food source safely. It will sanitize your ground from the pest also!
First, you have to look where they are pecking. Woodpeckers make small and deep holes in wood. If it’s a colony of ants or termites, care to call for pest control service. They will safely remove the ants, termites, or even bee hives.
However, in case it’s just a leftover from other birds, wear gloves and you can remove it yourself.
2) Introduce Some Treats and relocate the Birds
You can leverage the birds with treats and relocate them somewhere else! It won’t disturb their diet and relieve you of the annoyance also. In fact, where you move the food source is where the woodpeckers will be.
The birds love peanuts, corn, nectar, and fruits too! It’s easy to avail near you. In addition to that, get a woodpecker feeder. Try the log feeders and fill them up with corn or nuts to attract the birds and lure them into somewhere else.
**Tips: Nuts, corn, and fruits are easily available. However, suet is 100% effective in moving the birds! Suet is a raw and hard fat of beef and mutton. It’s an absolute kick for the woodpeckers.
You can buy the suet cakes and get them into the feeder. Keep the feeder away from your home and the noisy birds will surely relocate.
One drawback of such a step is, that you have to continuously provide food for them. If you don’t get rid of the food source at your home and stop providing food at the feeder, they may get back again.
**Note: Don’t offer chocolate to the woodpeckers as it can be life-threatening for them. Learn more here.
3) Use A Decoy
We all know of the scarecrows. They stand amidst the corp field and scare the crows away. You can do something similar without harming the birds.
To do this, you have to learn what predators are woodpeckers afraid of. Generally, cats, bobcats, foxes, owls, hawks, and coyotes hunt the woodpeckers in the wild.
However, it is almost impossible to bring a fox to your home to drive away the birds! That would raise another issue!
Fortunately, you will have so many realistic replicas of such predators online, which not only move but also can make subtle noise to drive the birds away. Online toy stores can be a good place to start!
The problem is solved naturally if you are a bird lover and leave them open in your yard!
4) Consider Woodpecker Nets
If they are bothering you too much and ruining your property such as berry trees or other fruit trees, consider covering the zone with a woodpecker net. Place it over your property with at least 3 inches above it.
Woodpeckers have long beaks that are about 4 cm long. Even if they try hard and struggle, they won’t be able to reach the fruits. It will gradually discourage them and ultimately make them leave.
However, you have to be exclusively selective about the nets. The soft ones won’t be enough to prevent the woodpeckers. The birds would easily peck them open and access the food.
Go for the ones that are specially made for buildings and structures. Also, avoid the ones that may cut the birds or harm them.
5) Don’t Let Them Settle
Birds always look for a safe place to roost, away from predators. Once they settle in a place, they may get back there again and again to roost. Woodpeckers are the same too!
Invite them (or not) to your place, they will gradually feel accommodated. It can be your rooftop, backyard, or balcony, they can get comfortable anywhere.
You can gently block their roosting areas. Now, you may have questions, “Should I remove my rooftop?” No, honey! That’s not all! Instead, you can place the decoys such as the fake predators to drive the birds away.
Some people also insert bird spikes to prevent them permanently. Both steel and plastic spikes are available on the market. However, to many of us, it may not seem like a humane solution.
Especially the metal spikes may harm the birds to some extent. You can adapt the other methods. And even if you have to place the spikes, consider using the plastic ones. They are blunt and chances to hurt the birds are rare.
Plus, woodpeckers are smart enough to avoid the place with spikes. They would naturally ignore the place. Some owners just won’t prefer the spiky set up on their property as well. If you are okay with the setup, you can are welcome to go forward.
Last Words
You can remove the woodpeckers in many ways. However, keep in mind that, they are also a part of our nature and you shouldn’t harm them in the process of removing them from your property.
You can safely relocate them somewhere else and maintain your peace too! We hope our article helped you learn a lot about how to get rid of woodpeckers.
In case you have dealt with the noisy drumming birds before, let us know in the comment section how you have removed them from your property.
Also, if this is something new to you, apply any of our measures and let us know how effective it was! We will come back soon with another informative article on birds!