x
Breaking News
More () »

Woodpeckers causing damage to homes in Colorado

CENTENNIAL - Noisy birds looking for homes are getting the "unwelcome mat" from residents dealing with damage from the woodpeckers.

"We tried a bunch of different ways of getting rid of them, with little or no success," said Jock Mirow of Centennial.The Colorado Division of Wildlife says the "Northern Flicker" type of bird is responsible for most of the damage to structures in Colorado."You can see they've gone in, 26 or 27 holes on one side of my house," said Mirow. "We've spent about $500 so far getting these lovely scare tactics that you see up on the house. We'll they pretty much laugh at them."Mirow is now looking into the possibility of getting a permit to trap and kill the woodpeckers due to the amazing amount of damage they have caused to his home. The DOW considers trapping and then killing the birds as a last resort, but the U.S. Fish Wildlife Service does occasionally issue such licenses."I mean I realize these are endangered birds, but there seem to be a lot of them for a protected species, if you catch my drift! These guys are looking at our house like it's a smorgasbord!"The U.S. Fish Wildlife Service says the woodpeckers "drum" their holes into the houses to attract mates, to establish or defend a territory, or to search for insects. Because the following materials make "loud sounds" - woodpeckers prefer wooden shingles, cedar, redwood siding, metal or plastic gutters, television antennas, chimney caps, and light posts.The DOW says woodpecker drumming is most common in the spring during early morning and late afternoon and it usually ends by July 1st. CONTROL METHODSThe DOW suggests preventing woodpecker damage with visual repellants, loud noises, exclusion, alternate construction materials, or providing nesting boxes. The DOW recommends you take immediate action when you first discover a woodpecker because they are not easily driven from their territories. To contact the U.S. Fish Wildlife Service - call (303) 236-8171 or visit: http://www.fws.gov/permits/Since 9News first broadcast pictures of the damage to Mirow's home on 4 O'Clock at 9News on Tuesday, many viewers have e-mailed or called in with their own solutions and comments about the woodpecker invasion.VIEWER SOLUTIONS COMMENTS TO THE WOODPECKER PROBLEMS: Flickers (woodpeckers) drill holes in stucco and wood siding this time of year, generally due to a lack of dead wood or dead trees in their territories. The males are driven to provide a nesting site for the female who usually begins laying eggs around May 5 or 6. Sides of houses are safer from predators than trees and the soft wood allows easy drilling (they cannot drill into live trees). The woodpeckers make the hole, discovers there is not sufficient room for a nest (they look for about 9-11 inches down from the hole and about 7 inches deep)If they don't find it, they move to another spot to try. About 75% successful is putting a Flicker nest box directly over the hole they've made, since they have selected that site anyway. The female lays her eggs in the box and one pair will not tolerate a second pair in the same territory during nesting season. There has been some success with putting the nest boxes on nearby trees as well. These birds are hormone driven at this season to provide a nest site, that is why scare tactics generally do not work. Only a predator that serves as a threat to Flicker survival works to keep them away at this time. Owl decoys must be moved continually if the Flicker is to regard them as a danger, i.e., a predator. We have had some success with Sharp-shinned hawk decoys using painted feathers and flying the decoy from a bracket, but these decoys are in short supply.Hope that sheds a little light on the situation. At our store we have worked with customers for 10 years to help with a humane solution to this recurring problem. -Candace from the Wild Bird Center*******************************The best solution to this problem is to build a "flicker bird house" for the birds instead. The reason they peck hole after hole is because they are looking for a hollow tree. The side of the house sounds hollow to them. They begin pecking a new house only to find it is not hollow-but filled with insulation, so they move over a few inches where it again sounds hollow to them, and again they find that it is not. They are just as frustrated as you are. Contact the Naturalist specialist in your area to get the best measurements and lumber requirements for a flicker house and build a few if you have several birds pecking. It worked for me. Good luck! -Jolene*******************************We had the same problem in Loveland. Fortunately for us a pair of Hawks set up housekeeping in one of the holes and raised a clutch of babies. They came back every year. The woodpeckers never came near our house again.-Peggy *******************************

Before You Leave, Check This Out