How to Birdproof your Home from Woodpeckers? 5 Ways

how to bird proof your home from woodpeckers

How to Get Rid of Woodpeckers? and Birdproof your Home from Woodpeckers Well, To look upon from a distance, Woodpeckers would be nice. However, they aren’t birds you would love having as pets or even as guests. Woodpeckers appear lovely, but they can annoy you with their traditional drilling skills. They have a solid and sturdy beak with a pointy tip that helps them drill holes in wood. The idea may sound attractive, but annoyance will start when woodpeckers dig into your property.

So, how do your bird proof your home from Woodpeckers? Are you looking for tips to deter woodpeckers away? Brace your horses as we have got everything sorted for you.

Come, let’s get started:

How to Keep Woodpeckers Off Your House?

Woodpeckers can destroy your house, and thus for the very first instance you observe these birds, deter them away. Though deterring woodpeckers isn’t as easy as it may sound.

Woodpeckers are cunning, and gone are the days when fake hawks and plastic owls would scare them.

Today, most woodpecker species have learned that these decoys are harmless. Thus, we need ideas and tricks that can scare woodpeckers away.

The Best woodpecker repellent

Use Burlap Wrap

As per several suffering individuals, wrapping Burlap wrap around their house and backyard trees help them deter Woodpeckers.

Woodpeckers often come back to the region where they were already pocking. And since burlap or any similar hardware fabric will hide the affected area naturally, woodpeckers won’t appear there again. You can find Burlap Wrap in your nearest hardware store or online.

Install Physical Barriers around your house

While virtual barriers like owl/ hawk decoy won’t prove successful, you can still rely on physical barriers. For instance, cover your house with things like stainless-steel spikes, bird mesh, nets, or similar things. Remember that since woodpeckers have potent beaks, go with solid physical barriers (non-wooden).

Hang Shiny and Reflective Barriers

Shiny objects work for all birds, whether intelligent crows or bright woodpeckers.

Remember when you look directly into the sunlight receiving mirror how your vision goes blur. Do you again dare to walk into the same path while having difficulty seeing? No? So do the woodpeckers, who will also behave.

  • For trees: Hang loose reflective tape strips all around the trees in your garden. These strips won’t hamper your green space, so hang as much as you can.
  • For the house: Either hang reflective tape strips or bird repelling reflective rods all-around your house. Or line your wooden roof with reflective tape strips and your porch and patio with shiny scare rods.

NOTE: This tip won’t work for areas in your house that don’t receive direct sunlight.

Use Noise deterrent

Visual deterrents don’t always work against cunning woodpeckers, and this is when you need a better device. And when it comes to a bird repelling device, what’s better than an ultrasonic noise machine.

Considering the area of your house and garden, place one or more Ultrasonic bird repelling devices. You can go with electrically powered ones, battery-powered ones, or solar-powered ones, depending upon your comfort and interest.

NOTE: If you own a pet dog, cat, or rabbit, noise repelling devices aren’t an excellent option for you.

Use a chemical-based Bird Repellent.

Though chemical-based bird repellents are always our last resort, we recommend them when it comes to woodpeckers.

Use a trusted bird repellent solution throughout your home, garden, trees, backyard, and boundaries. Make sure you repeat the application once every week for better results. 

NOTE: If you live in an area with a high temperature, then bird repelling liquids and gels won’t work the best for you.

How to Get Rid of Woodpeckers? How to Deter Woodpeckers?

Woodpeckers stay most active during the Spring season, and it is when you may observe them drumming and drilling. Hence to deter them, you must start preparing even before they arrive.

Here are a few tips and tricks that would help you deter woodpeckers even before they appear on your property:

Remove all the food sources:

Woodpeckers are omnivorous, and insects are one major part of their diet. This is also why these birds drill through the wood because they look for termites, ants, and other insects there.

However, if you remove all their possible food sources, your home will not attract woodpeckers anymore.

Clean your garden and home outdoors from all possible woodpecker attracting insects.

Examine all the holes around your house, especially the ones in the woods.

Examine your entire property for any insect infection.

For ensuring a deep cleaning, call pest control services every once in a while.

Plant berry bushes and fruit trees:

If woodpeckers are an uncontrollable nuisance in your region, your primary concern should be saving your home. And even if this deal comes with letting them feed in your trees and bushes, go for it.

Plant your garden with trees and bushes that give fruits for different months of the year. So that even if woodpeckers are here to stay all year round, your garden has something or the other to offer them.

TIP: Never plant trees close to your building but at a safer distance on the boundaries of your garden or backyard.

Hang bright mylar balloons on your property:

For some reason, mylar Balloons or Eaglehawk (balloons) aren’t very appealing for birds. And also, because air makes them float all the time, these balloons appear pretty natural.

Hang a few bunches of mylar balloons over your roof as well as in your garden and backyard. Depending upon their quality and weather conditions, they will work effectively for weeks and months.

Fill all the holes in your house:

Woodpeckers find those areas easier to poke that already have holes and cervices. Thus, make sure all the holes are well covered before they arrive.

Use a Woodpecker house:

Although they aren’t very nice guests, they are great neighbors. They will eat all the damaging wood insects keeping your surroundings clean.

Hence, the idea here is to install a woodpecker house on your garden or backyard boundaries.

NOTE: Do not paint woodpecker houses as these birds don’t love bright, unnatural-looking colors. 

Remove all the trees from your garden and backyard:

Trees provide shade, one of the significant attractants for birds, including woodpeckers.

However, if your garden lacks trees, woodpeckers may fall vulnerable and search for another shaded place they can call their own.

How to stop Woodpeckers/birds from making holes in the house?

Woodpeckers can do heavy damage to your house if not noticed soon. Though if you are worried about the fact, follow these quick and easy methods and save your home:

  • Install netting all-around your house. The idea here is to keep woodpeckers from accessing any building areas.
  • Hang reflective tape old CDs or aluminum flashing around your house. You can also use old mirrors or reflective windmills for the same.
  • Plant one or more motions activated water sprinklers around your house. Woodpeckers don’t love wet things, and thus this remedy will stop them from visiting and poking holes in your home.
  • Paint your house in bright or metallic colors. Woodpeckers are least drawn towards homes with metallic or vinyl exteriors. Though they instead prefer nesting at homes with unfinished woodwork. Hence work thoughtfully to deter them.

Woodpecker deterrents home Remedies- Do they work?

Home remedies for deterring woodpeckers don’t work. Apart from hanging old CDs (only if the area receives direct sunlight), no other DIY will show effective results.

Thus, you better go for a product-based method to repel woodpeckers from your property. For example:

How to deter woodpeckers from house siding?

The best way to deter woodpeckers from house siding is by covering an affected area either through bird netting or Burlap.

Are woodpeckers protected?

Yes, the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects woodpeckers. Even if these birds are destroying your house, killing them is illegal, and it can land you into legal trouble.

For killing them, an individual requires a special permit which is hard to achieve.

Wrapping up…

We have tried to include maximum reliable information bird proofing your home from woodpeckers. However, because these birds are brilliant, we believe all the above remedies might fail you.

There are even cases when a combination of bird deterrents also fails in repelling woodpeckers.

And if these factors are troubling you, we recommend you contact the woodpecker control and woodpecker prevention department. Or look for a professional company that has a record for helping individuals deterring birds like woodpeckers.