4 Types of Woodpecker Control And Woodpecker Deterrents - Part II

In part I of our series we discussed the first two types of woodpecker deterrents: exclusionary and tactile.

As a review, homeowners who already have existing damage to their home should begin by employing at least one exclusionary deterrent. Examples of this type of woodpecker deterrent include bird control netting and metal flashing.

Tactile woodpecker deterrents are a topical solution that is applied to your siding or roof. While this type of woodpecker deterrent can work, it can cause great harm to the woodpecker and can also cause discoloration and other damage to your home.

If you decide that a tactile woodpecker deterrent is the best option for you, do your research carefully and test the product in a area of your home that isn't highly visible.

Visual Woodpecker Deterrents

The most effective types of woodpecker deterrents in this category not only provide a good visual deterrent but also include some type of motion as part of their design.

A common example of a visual woodpecker deterrent that is not effective is a stationary owl decoy.

Woodpeckers are not dumb animals. They might be deterred from the site initially because something new has been introduced to their environment but they will quickly realize that the owl is not a threat to them because it is stationary.

Other stationary visual deterrents include hawks, snakes and even owl or cat silhouettes.

Following is a start list of visual woodpecker deterrents that would be worth giving a try and provide some type of motion include:

Aluminum foil or reflective tape
Rubber balloons with owl-like eyes
Toy twirlers or windmills fastened to the eaves
A hanging CD to scare bird

One trait these solutions have in common is that they require a breeze to have motion.

There are some products on the market that are battery operated and are activated by the sounds of woodpecker pecking.

Audio Woodpecker Deterrent

Loud noises such as hand clapping or banging on the lid of a garbage can will certainly scare away your woodpecker. And in my case, it became a regular routine to wake up, get out of bed and bang on our exterior wall to get rid of our early morning visitor.

BUT these methods won't produce long lasting results. Like the stationary owl I discussed in my last post, these are short term tactics.

You may also come across expensive high-frequency deterrents that claim to be very effective. As with dog whistles, these products produce a very high frequency that is beyond the hearing range of humans.

Sounds like it should work, right?

Not really, it turns out that many of these products produce frequencies that are even outside of the hearing range of most birds.

My preference is to go for those audio deterrents that are activated by a motion detector and produce a sound that is audible to woodpeckers.

Familiarizing yourself with the 4 types of woodpecker deterrents is one of the most important steps to getting rid of woodpeckers.