If you’ve arrived at this page, chances are you are experiencing some unsightly and costly woodpecker damage. These birds can wreak havoc on your home and your nerves! That’s why it is paramount that we discourage woodpeckers by using high quality woodpecker deterrents.
The goal is to scare woodpeckers away and ensure that they never return. Although this may sound like a daunting task, it can be very simple if the proper products and techniques are used.
Below I will teach you exactly how to get rid of woodpeckers on your house for good:
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Use Visual Deterrents
One should try using visual deterrents before moving on to any other type of woodpecker deterrent. The reason for this is that they are usually the most effective, and cheapest means of getting rid of woodpeckers. Most people find that these products eliminate woodpeckers from their premises without the need of any further intervention.
Visual deterrents serve to discourage woodpeckers with reflective materials. These birds are very fearful of shiny objects and tend to avoid them at all costs. That’s why most visual woodpecker deterrents you find have some sort of reflective material to engage the bird’s fear and prevent them from returning. Typically, when they encounter these objects, they will be traumatized and seek another location for their maniacal behaviors.
Therefore, the use of visual deterrents is one of the strongest components in our campaign to eliminate woodpeckers from our properties and prevent woodpecker damage!
The most prominent types of visual deterrents fall into 3 categories: Bird Repellent Discs, Bird Repellent Tape, and Bird Repellent Balloons. They all employ the aforementioned reflective materials to scare woodpeckers away. These products should serve as the starting place for stopping woodpecker damage and ridding your home of these nuisance birds. However, stubborn woodpeckers will surely be warded off with the use of other deterrents mentioned in the other deterrent categories below.
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Use an Electronic Woodpecker Repellent
Unlike visual deterrents, an electronic woodpecker repellent seeks to discourage woodpeckers with the use of sound rather than sight. It uses specific frequencies and predator calls that are known to frighten these birds and keep woodpeckers away for good.
A major benefit of these woodpecker control products over visual deterrents is that they can be hidden and used at your discretion. You choose when they operate, the length of operation, as well as the volume.
They have been proven time and time again to be successful in keeping woodpeckers away in order to prevent woodpecker damage.
It can be cumbersome finding a reputable electronic repellent as there are dozens of them listed on the web (many with fake or misleading reviews). The only 2 products that I’ve actually seen work are the BirdXPeller PRO and Super BirdXPeller PRO. Although they are more expensive than other electronic repellents on the web, they are also the most effective. They are manufactured by Bird-X which is one of the most reputable bird control companies on the market. I stand by their products 100% as they have been proven to live up to their claims. Cheaper options I’ve tried have all proven to be ineffective and ultimately, a waste of money.
The BirdXpeller Pro is capable of covering up to 1 acre and the Super BirdXPeller PRO can handle areas as large as 6 acres. Both of these products make it simple to get rid of a woodpecker!
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Feed Them
If there’s 1 thing Woodpeckers love to eat, it’s Suet! They find these compressed cakes absolutely irresistible. If they are attacking your home for food, this is a surefire way to prevent woodpecker damage!
Simply place one of these cakes inside a Woodpecker Suet Feeder away from your home and witness the birds migrating to the new area. As long as you replace the cake every so often, you should find that the woodpeckers will stay out of your way. I generally recommend setting a few of these up to reduce the frequency of suet cake replacement and provide the birds with multiple feeding options away from your home.
Make sure that you aren’t using a general suet cake. Woodpeckers have a very particular pallet. Therefore, a Woodpecker Suet Cake made specifically for these birds will bode best for attracting these birds.
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Shelter Them
One of the main reasons why woodpeckers peck is for shelter. If this is the case in your scenario, then providing a comfortable alternative for them is all you may need to do.
By providing them with a residence away from your home, especially one designed for woodpeckers, there’s a high likelihood that they will stay there.
It’s a good way to live in symbiosis with these animals while preventing woodpecker damage.
Woodpeckers seem to be partial to this woodpecker birdhouse. Many people state that they are naturally attracted to it. In addition, the predator guard on the face of the woodpecker birdhouse prevents predators from harming them while they’re inside.
For best results, place a Woodpecker Suet Feeder full with a Woodpecker Suet Cake for insurance. This will ensure that the woodpeckers not only have a place to stay, but also food to eat as well. It’s a proven strategy to keep woodpeckers away from your home!
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Use Woodpecker Deterrent Paint
Although costly, Woodpecker Deterrent Paint has been proven very successful for stopping woodpecker damage.
The paint emits tastes and odors that are offensive to woodpeckers and causes them to flee the area.
It is a time consuming option but in certain circumstances, it proves to be a very good woodpecker deterrent. It is especially useful in preventing woodpeckers from attacking stucco or EIFS surfaces.
The paint is manufactured by Beakguard and has a 70% success rate at preventing woodpecker attacks.
Beakguard is currently offered in 4 different colors: Portabello, Whetstone, White, and Sandstone.
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Use Physical Barriers
As a last resort, you can use physical barriers to prevent woodpeckers from coming in contact with your home. The 2 most prominent types of barriers for these birds are Woodpecker Spikes and Woodpecker Netting.
Woodpecker Spikes are exactly what they sound like, vertical spikes which prevent them from accessing ledges and other surfaces that they like to peck.
Woodpecker Netting on the other hand is a little more invasive. It is used to completely cover an area that the woodpecker has been attacking. This prevents it form having access but can also be impractical in many applications, especially for large areas.
It’s also worth noting that woodpeckers are extremely intelligent birds. Just because a physical barrier is employed doesn’t mean that the woodpeckers won’t find a way to work around it or evade it entirely. They work best when used in conjunction with other woodpecker control products.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article on how to get rid of woodpeckers on your house.
These 6 methods should give you all the ammunition you need for getting rid of woodpeckers and keeping them away!
For damage already done to your house, please visit the repair woodpecker damage page for detailed instructions.
If you have any further questions on how to get rid of a woodpecker, please feel free to leave a comment below!
How close to the woodpecker hole area do the spinning reflective discs need to be? Some of the popular areas on my cedar siding are a good 10′ or more below the eaves and gutters.
They should be relatively close but 10′ seems close enough. You can always purchase small hooks that screw directly into the siding/sheathing for additional mounting points.
Hi!
Very informative article ! Thank you. They are destroying my upstairs shutters, making holes . The house is very old (1869) up in a mountain of Greece, the shutters are from 1975 when the house was renovated. I suspect the wood is rotten mostly. I am mostly educating myself about the problem which has occurred recently ( 2 years) and added itself on two other major issues : mice and squirrels. Have you any related articles on them?
Thank you
I do not have any advice to give on mice and squirrels but if they are gaining access to your home through holes made by woodpeckers, I’d suggest checking out this page on repairing woodpecker damage. Best of luck with your house. It sounds beautiful!
Thank you so much for this page. A ton of valuable information.
We just moved into a new home and on our first night we were awaken by a woodpecker drumming. We have stucco siding.
I noticed in all my research, woodpecker holes seem to be under the eves. Is that the area that they will most likely drum?
And if that’s the case, I’m looking at the Beakguard paint and thinking I just need to paint under the eaves. Does that make sense?
Last thing, could it be possible to send you a pic of he holes? I feel it’s drumming to find a mate instead of nesting but not sure.
Thank you so much for your help!
I’m glad you’re finding this site to be resourceful in your quest to get rid of woodpeckers.
First of all, woodpecker holes aren’t predominantly found under eves. These birds are known to attack any area of the home depending on why they are pecking.
I would recommend examining the holes. Try getting a look inside. If the cavity is deep, they are most likely nesting in that area and not drumming.
However, the methods for getting rid of them are much the same regardless of their motives.
Before you go through the expense and hassle of painting your home with Beakguard, I would certainly recommend hanging bird repellent discs up around the areas they are known to frequent. More times than not, this will solve your problem.
Please feel free to post a link in this thread to a picture of the aforementioned holes.
Once the woodpeckers have left your home, you can proceed to fixing the holes they’ve made.
I am here to help the best I can!
Hi i live in a Cedar sided house . Downy woodpeckers are constintly pecking holes in our siding. How can we Stop them without using poisons ? Have trier matalis windspinners n chimes , plastic owls not working . HELP
If you’ve already experimented with Bird Repellent Discs, I’d certainly recommend giving this Electronic Woodpecker Repellent a try. It uses sound waves to deter woodpeckers with pretty promising results.
Can u use the sound deferents next to the house or is it too loud?
The BirdXPeller PRO has an adjustable volume knob so that it won’t be bothersome near your home but still effective.
What would you suggest for trying to get a woodpecker that has already come into our attic? We are pretty sure that it is coming and going, but we are thinking of hiring an exterminator to somehow remove it if and when it is inside and then install deterrents against future invasions.
Woodpecker Deterrents are definitely a wise choice. If the woodpecker is continuously entering your attic and you aren’t having any luck with deterrents, I would advise contacting an exterminator or contractor to better seal it up.
Woodpeckers are dropping acorns on my roof and filling up my gutters. They start early in the morning and hang out all day until evening!!! I am at my wits end trying to find help with this.
The main problem is the gutters are 12ft. high which makes it hard to place anything up there.
I have reflective tape all over but they fly over it.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Have you experimented with an Electronic Woodpecker Repellent yet? These seem to work quite well and would enable you to tackle this problem from the ground. Hope this helps!
So… I’ve got a problem with woodpeckers / northern flickers hammering on sheet metal vent and chimney caps early every morning. They are not at this time attacking my siding – just using the sheet metal vent cap for a drum. I’ve tried the visual deterrents – with absolutely no effect. Part of the problem may be a large dead tree nearby (not on my property) in which the woodpeckers have made a home.
I need suggestions / help! I need to get rid of these pests!
I would advise trying an Electronic Woodpecker Repellent if you haven’t had any success with visual deterrents. Since their goal is drumming, hopefully the sound of this repellent would deter them from doing so as it may hinder their ability to attract other woodpeckers.
Please stop back and let me know how it pans out!
I’m grateful you talked about providing the birds with shelter away from your home so they won’t bother you. I wonder if this works with magpies as well because I have a lot of them in my attic, and I want to use a humane bird deterrent. It would be great if I could set up a residence for the magpies so they won’t stay in my attic, and then I won’t have to worry about using inhumane means to fix the problem.
I do not have experience with Magpies so I don’t want to give you bad information. What I will say is that a quick Amazon search yielded this Ultrasonic Magpie Repeller that may help you.
As with Electronic Woodpecker Repellers, this product uses sound to keep these birds away.
I hope this helps you solve your problem!
My wife and I have been having some issues with woodpeckers around our home, and I think that finding a pest control service would be helpful. I’m glad that you talked about using woodpecker repellent, which is something that I’d love to look a little bit more into. I think that if we can find a good pest control service, that would be the best option for us to get rid of our woodpecker problem!
Quite honestly, pest control services normally don’t specifically deal with woodpeckers. They just treat them as a regular nuisance bird. That’s not to say that all of them treat these birds in such fashion.
I would most certainly experiment with some of the woodpecker deterrents on this site before enlisting the help of a professional.
Most of the time this is more than enough to get rid of these birds for good!
Best of luck!