Woodpeckers - New Home

[songkrai]

Fancy all new Adirondack style home constructed on big lake by a known quality builder. All new foundation, well, septic.

Cedar shake shingles for siding. Pine/fur trim. Clear stain applied.

What appears to be woodpecker holes on pine/fur trim and a few smaller ones on cedar shake siding. Only on one side of home.

Home is about 1.5 years old and this just showed up this year/Fall. Never any insect issues at home.

Any ideas as to why woodpeckers would peck on a new home?

[Belmont Resident]

Originally Posted by songkrai

Fancy all new Adirondack style home constructed on big lake by a known quality builder. All new foundation, well, septic.

Cedar shake shingles for siding. Pine/fur trim. Clear stain applied.

What appears to be woodpecker holes on pine/fur trim and a few smaller ones on cedar shake siding. Only on one side of home.

Home is about 1.5 years old and this just showed up this year/Fall. Never any insect issues at home.

Any ideas as to why woodpeckers would peck on a new home?

What was used to seal it? I have heard of this but usually on open untreated wood not a surface that has been oiled or painted. If wood does not have a protectant on it, to a woodpecker it is just another dead tree. I will see if I can get some into for you.


I was told bugs in the wood, untreated wood or wood that may have been wet when it was treated could all be a cause for this. There may be more reasons but thats all I have. I know when I paint if there is any question at all as to the condition of the wood, as it being wet, I always use a moisture meter on it before proceeding. Ounce of prevention.
Good luck with it.

[SIKSUKR]

Before I resided my house in vinyl I had the same problem. Only on one side, the north wall which happens to be my bedroom. Sleeping in late one Saturday I'm woken by constant tapping on my wall. I go outside to see a woodpecker working on my cedar shake siding. He must have been doing this for many days when I was at work because while shoeing him away I noticed dozens of holes. He would get through the siding and hit the sheathing and stop, then move to a different spot. Yikes! When I installed new siding there were no signs of any insects. Guessing he liked the smell of the cedar.

[Merrymeeting]

Originally Posted by songkrai

Any ideas as to why woodpeckers would peck on a new home?

In the end, it is insects they are after, real or imagined. I say imagined because I knew someone who had this problem and it turned out to be a device in the house that somehow was emitting a sound that attracted the woodpecker. Sorry, I don't remember how they figured this out.

[Belmont Resident]

Originally Posted by Merrymeeting

In the end, it is insects they are after, real or imagined. I say imagined because I knew someone who had this problem and it turned out to be a device in the house that somehow was emitting a sound that attracted the woodpecker. Sorry, I don't remember how they figured this out.

I've never heard of that before but, they use sound to repell mice.

[HouseMaster]

Originally Posted by songkrai

Fancy all new Adirondack style home constructed on big lake by a known quality builder. All new foundation, well, septic.

Cedar shake shingles for siding. Pine/fur trim. Clear stain applied.

What appears to be woodpecker holes on pine/fur trim and a few smaller ones on cedar shake siding. Only on one side of home.

Home is about 1.5 years old and this just showed up this year/Fall. Never any insect issues at home.

Any ideas as to why woodpeckers would peck on a new home?

This is sometimes attributed to the presence of carpenter bees. The bees lay there eggs in chambers within the wood where the larvae begin to grow. Birds, especially woodpeckers, can hear the movement of the larvae and will destroy the wood structure as they excavate the larvae.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/wp_about/insects.html

[Doyboy]

I have been dealing with a similar issue at home in Massachusetts. My research has shown that the electrical service wire is emitting an undetectable hum that the woodpecker is mistaking for an insect nest. Despite some substantial damage to my trim boards, I've been told that they are protected animals so there is nothing lethal that I can do. All the "experts" will tell you is to make your house unattractive to them. Scare them by hanging brightly colored wind socks, fake owls or hawks, or in my case, throwing tennis balls.

[jetskier]

Originally Posted by Doyboy

I have been dealing with a similar issue at home in Massachusetts. My research has shown that the electrical service wire is emitting an undetectable hum that the woodpecker is mistaking for an insect nest. Despite some substantial damage to my trim boards, I've been told that they are protected animals so there is nothing lethal that I can do. All the "experts" will tell you is to make your house unattractive to them. Scare them by hanging brightly colored wind socks, fake owls or hawks, or in my case, throwing tennis balls.

We had a woodpecker that was tapping holes in a trim board on our home in Massachusetts. I learned that one of the best ways to deter him is to hang a foil pie plate above the chosen spot. To a woodpecker, this apparantly looks like a large predatory bird and they stay away. It worked like a charm and was quite inexpensive.

Jetskier