The most expensive and least effective of the group was the Bird-Pro Sound System, which broadcasts bird distress calls. Researchers also found that houses stained with earth tones were more likely to be damaged than brightly painted houses.
One of the most effective methods of preventing woodpeckers from damaging wooden siding is to cover the area with lightweight plastic, nylon webbing, or plastic storm window material. The material should be at least 3 inches from the wall so that the bird cannot grasp the wall through the material with its sharp claws. It should be attached to the eaves or rain gutters so that it stands away from the wall.
Sometimes a board must be installed along the top of the wall, to which the material can then be attached. Small-mesh hardware cloth or welded wire can be used to cover pecked areas to prevent further damage. The repaired area should be painted to match the color of the building. Damaged areas on houses should be repaired or covered as soon as possible, because other woodpeckers will be attracted to the damaged site.
If panels have to be replaced, it may be wise to add additional insulation to deaden the resonance. Chemical treatments are limited. There are no registered toxicants for woodpecker control.
Sticky repellents, such as "Tanglefoot" and "Roost-No-More," are difficult to use on siding but can be effective on rain gutters, antennas, and chimney caps. Consult an exterminator if an insect infestation is suspected. Healthy trees are rarely damaged by woodpeckers. When damage does occur, the yellow-bellied sapsucker is usually the culprit.
This bird drills hemlocks, pines, and other conifers for sap in spring and also taps mature elm, maple, and hickory trees. During fall migration, sapsuckers may drill apple, hackberry, maple, and hemlock trees. Characteristically, the bird drills five to seven holes, cutting through the bark to make the sap flow.
These holes are arranged horizontally and extend vertically down the trunk of the tree. In the forest, sapsucker-pecked trees are most often those that should be culled. In orchards, apple trees may be extensively scarred by the sapsucker holes, but the shallow drilling soon heals over, and damage is not permanent.
However, extensive summer drilling in birch trees, which yield high sugar sap, may kill branches or trees. Wrapping a 0. Sticky or tacky bird repellents smeared on limbs or trunks where sapsuckers are working also discourage the birds. Woodpeckers are classified as migratory, nongame birds and are protected by federal and state laws. Woodpeckers can be legally killed only under permits issued by the U. Any birds killed under a depredation permit must be turned over to a representative of the U.
Fish and Wildlife Service. Woodpeckers are an ecologically beneficial group of birds with considerable aesthetic value. Killing offending birds should always be a last resort and is almost never warranted. Prepared by Jack M. Payne, former extension wildlife specialist Illustrated by Rae D. Let's Stay Connected. By entering your email, you consent to receive communications from Penn State Extension.
View our privacy policy. Thank you for your submission! Home Woodpeckers. Learn how to keep woodpeckers from becoming a problem or how to lessen the problem if one currently exists. Red-bellied Woodpecker. Pileated Woodpecker With the exception of the extremely rare ivory-billed woodpecker, the pileated is the largest American woodpecker.
Red-bellied woodpecker This woodpecker, which is 8 to 9 inches long, is easily recognized by its zebra-patterned back, red cape, and white rump. Red-headed woodpecker This is a medium-sized bird, 8.
Left to right: Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Yellow-bellied sapsucker The sapsucker, which is 8 to 9 inches long, is among the smallest of the common Pennsylvania woodpeckers. Description of damage Although a woodpecker's ability to peck into trees when in search of food is well known, many species drill into wood where no insects exist. Ornamental and shade trees Healthy trees are rarely damaged by woodpeckers.
Legal status Woodpeckers are classified as migratory, nongame birds and are protected by federal and state laws. Margaret C. Woodpeckers have important roles to play as part of the ecosystem.
They can help control insect populations and keep trees healthy. There are many types of wood-boring insects, and when populations get out of control they can decimate large strands of trees.
Woodpeckers will not only eat the beetles, but the larvae as well. There are also many species of birds and mammals that use old woodpecker cavities. Birds like screech owls, wrens, bluebirds , nuthatches and kestrels need cavities to nest in, but cannot create them on their own.
Mammals such as flying squirrels and mice will also use these cavities for shelter. You may have wondered how woodpeckers can jackhammer their bills into trees all day and not turn their brain to mush. As you may expect, woodpeckers possess special physical adaptations to protect their brains.
There is a lot of study on this topic and without going into too much detail of the many systems at work, here are a few of the components that go into making their drilling possible;. The specialized anatomy of the woodpecker redirects this strain energy into their body instead of it all remaining in their head.
The small amount in the head is dissipated in the form of heat. So while this process protects the woodpeckers brain from damage it does cause their skulls to heat up quickly. The woodpeckers combat this by taking frequent breaks in-between pecking while the heat disperses. Scientists are still studying woodpeckers shock absorption and energy conversion techniques today to learn more about how it works and possible engineering applications for things like helmets and even cars!
Melanie has been a birding hobbyist for years and loves feeding and photographing birds of all types. Red-headed Woodpecker Size: inches Identifying markings: Adults have a bright crimson head, black back, large white wing patches and a white belly.
Nesting: eggs, inside cavities in dead trees or dead branches. These woodpeckers are very territorial and will attack other birds and even remove other birds eggs from nearby nests. Unfortunately, they are in decline in many areas especially the Northeastern U. They face the same challenge as many birds in terms of competition for nesting holes. But this species in particular makes their nests solely in dead trees, a habitat which is quickly declining. Dead or dying trees are often removed from land for firewood, to reduce fire hazard, discourage certain blight insects or simply for aesthetics.
Pileated Woodpecker Size: inches the largest North American woodpecker Identifying markings: Mainly black with a red crest, black and white stripped face, white stripe down the neck, and white wing linings. Habitat: Mature forests with large trees. Interesting Facts about Pileated Woodpeckers These huge woodpeckers can excavate holes up to seven inches across. Sometimes they dig their holes so deep into the tree that they accidentally can snap small trees in half.
They prefer mature woods with old large trees. Much of their habitat was lost in the early 18th and 19th century when logging took down most of the mature forests and forests were cleared to become farms. As farmlands began to decline and forests returned, the Pileated have made a comeback and seem to be adapting to younger forests and trees.
Red-bellied Woodpecker Size: 8. Diet: Insects, fruit and seeds. Interesting Facts about Red-bellied Woodpeckers They can stick out their tongue up to two inches past the tip of their beak! It is long and also quite sharp, with a hard barb at the tip which they can use to spear grasshoppers and beetles. They have even been known to use this tongue to puncture oranges and lap out the pulp. Red-bellied Woodpeckers will readily visit bird feeders for suet and seeds, especially in the winter months.
Red-cockaded Woodpecker Size: Diet: Wood-boring insects. Habitat: Open pine forests. Location: Southeastern United States. Interesting facts about Red-cockaded Woodpeckers This rare and unfortunately declining woodpecker is found exclusively in open pine woodlands. These unique woodpeckers seek out pine trees with red-heart disease, a fungus that affects the heartwood and makes the wood easier for the woodpeckers to remove and excavate their elaborate nesting cavities. Red heart is a fairly common affliction of trees 70 years or older but today most pine forests are cut before trees reach that age.
The open pine forests themselves are declining. Today it is believed there may be only four population groups of Red-cockaded woodpeckers that exist in the world, all located in the southeastern United States.
They have been listed as an endangered species since Diet: Ants and other insects, fruit, seeds and nuts. Habitat: Woodlands, deserts, suburbs. Nesting: eggs laid in a cavity in a tree or cactus in dry habitats. Interesting facts about flickers There are three subspecies of Flickers. In general the yellow-shafted is found in the east and the red-shafted in the west. There is also a Gilded Flicker which is only found in the southwestern U. Northern Flickers are one of the few North America woodpeckers that migrate.
Birds in the northern parts of their range will move further south in the winter. Another interesting fact about Flickers is they often prefer to find food on the ground. Flickers love ants and will dig in the dirt to find them, then use their long tongue to lap them up. In fact it is believed that they consume more ants than any other North American bird! Habitat: Forests, woodlands. Nesting: eggs laid in live tree cavities. They prefer Aspen trees. Identifying markings Yellow-bellied : Black and white above, white wing patch.
Red-breasted : Far western coast of Canada and the U. They drill rows of regularly spaced vertical and horizontal holes in the trunk of a tree. When the sap leaks out they will lick it up. The sap can also attract insects which then may become caught in the sap — once incapacitated the woodpeckers can easily gobble them up.
Downy Woodpecker Size: inches the smallest of the North American woodpeckers. Diet: Wood-boring insects, berries and seeds. Habitat: Open woodlands, orchards and parks. Location: Across the majority of the U. Whenever I have moved and put my feeders up, they are always one of the first species to show up.
They are also often caught drinking hummingbird nectar out of hummingbird feeders. Downy Woodpeckers do drill into trees like other woodpeckers but primarily like to pick insects and larvae out of the crevices in bark. Hairy Woodpecker Size: 8. Diet: Wood-boring insects, berries, seeds. Habitat: Mature forests, orchards, parks. Nesting: eggs on bed of wood chips in tree cavity. They can be distinguished by their larger overall size and also noticeably longer bill. It has been noted that sometimes they will follow the Pileated Woodpeckers, waiting for them to finish drilling a hole and once the Pileated leaves they will investigate and forage for insects the Pileated may have missed.
Habitat: Open pine woodlands, groves and areas with scattered trees. Location: Western U. Nesting: eggs, cavity in dead branch or stump. They have a graceful and steady flight pattern, not undulating as in other woodpeckers.
They are social woodpeckers and can often be found in family groups. His is the first written account of this bird, documenting it on their famous journey across the western United States in Of these, three species of woodpecker and one species of wryneck are found in the UK. Great spotted woodpecker About blackbird-sized and striking black-and-white. Read more. Green woodpecker Our largest woodpecker spends most of its time on the ground, hunting for ants. Lesser spotted woodpecker The lesser spotted woodpecker is the smallest and least common of the three woodpeckers that are resident in Britain.
Wryneck Small sparrow-sized birds, appearing greyish overall, with brown and buff mottling. Cookie Preferences. Accepting all non-essential cookies helps us to personalise your experience. Edit settings. Accept all. Essential cookies are required These cookies are required for basic web functions. Enable analytics cookies Allow us to collect anonymised performance data. Enable marketing cookies Allow us to personalise your experience.
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