Animal Science

Don't wash your windows

I vote for that solution.

Any ideas on how to keep woodpeckers from pecking on my house? I don't think the structure is being damaged. I would think they're more liable to hurt themselves, since the materials being pecked are brick and siding.

Not sure what to tell you about the woodpeckers, sue. The ones by my old house used to hammer away for hours at the huge power line poles. Mostly the treated wood type but occasionally metal!

Here's a photo of one of our pileated visitors (actually on a tree):

Beautiful! I've been trying to get a photo like this for years. They either sense that I'm around and move to the opposite side of the tree, or are in motion and the shot comes out blurry. (Or I'm a lousy photographer). Love to see them swooping around; they look like pterodactyls. Comparatively.

Birds are difficult to photograph. This was one of the first pictures I took with my new digital camera and a long lens. I was still fairly close though - maybe 30-40 feet away.

I have some great pictures of tree and barn swallows that I'll have to use in a future blog entry!

I once had a woodpecker that would try to peck through a metal grill. He would sit atop it and try so hard that he would move around as he pecked. I don't think he ever got hurt, but it was such a weird sound and you couldn't help but laugh every time he tried to make a home in the grill.

We've got a red-headed woodpecker that delights on pecking on the gutters on the back of our house during the early morning hours. It resonates throughout the house so for a long time we actually thought he was getting in the attic. We even sealed every crack and crevice to stop him getting in.

Then early one morning I noticed him on the gutter, banging away. #$%@^&$%^&

Hooker <--- a firm believer in not washing the windows

Not clear what exactly what you sealed up or what type of attic you have, but attics need ventilation between the insulation and the wooden roof. If you don't get enough airflow, moisture will condense and rot out the roof (not to mention the adverse effects it will have on the shingles).

Oh, no fear, we didn't seal up the normal vents (soffits, ridgeline, etc). They were all critter proof anyway.

There were some other unprotected areas, big enough for small birds to get in, that we closed off.

Thanks for worrying!

Hooker

...not much different than some people making certain mistakes and others not.

That is pretty cool. I don't know that there were many repeat offenders that would smack into my windows though. Fritted glass sounds like a neat alternative, although I wouldn't go out of my way to please birds if it was that noticeable up close.

Poor, birds. My step-father used to work at a car dealership and he said that birds would fly into the glass all the time. It makes sense though, especially considering how clear the outdoors looks in the image you used.

The territorial behavior thing reminds me of when I had a beta fish. They too, hate reflections of themselves!

I'm also with Sue on not washing windows to be a good prevention method. I'd also propose having a cat, whom likely will enjoy sitting in the windows and growling at the birds.

"Use window decals (experts say this is ineffective)"

Yes, but have tried a decal of a big cat?

We have a problem with seagulls nesting on the factory roof, they peck through the transparent roofing panels. When they have chicks (which is now) they regard anyone close to the building as a threat & dive bomb them.

I mounted a piece of broomhandle onto a metal waste paper basket to see if the woodpeckers would hammer that too. We have more than a few woodpeckers around or nieghborhood. Once they found it, they would beat it religiously off and on as long as the sun was up. After a while I had to take it down because of the noise nuisance, you could hear it well from 1/2 mile away. As for the glass question, it seems that reflections confuse them. They never fly into frosted glass, only glass that reflects.

A young Canadian found a smart solution:

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/01/21/ot-090121-bird-decals.html

They're lonely or need attention...

Ive been told by a few people that some time the wood peckers will use the stone or metal materials to re point their beaks. Just like a punch or chisel gets dull so does the wood peckers pointed beak.

I don't know if it true but after hearing it I did watch a wood pecker sit and do glancing blows to a rusty piece of steel in front of my shop for a few minutes. It sort of looked like it may actually have been doing some purposeful sharpening.

Just an educated guess though!

I get a few dinners a year from Ruffed Grouse hitting my windows. Humm, Yummm. It happens when overpopulation of an area causes them to spontaneously erupt in a wild scattering dispersal response.

Woodpeckers like the steel trim on my shop for sound effects. Chickadees tap my window only when the bird feeder is empty.