# If woodpeckers are very interested in certain trees in your yard should you be concerned?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-woodpeckers-are-very-interested-in-certain-trees-in-your-yard-should-you-be-concerned/693547>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 19, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-woodpeckers-are-very-interested-in-certain-trees-in-your-yard-should-you-be-concerned/693547 "2014-07-19T19:43:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-woodpeckers-are-very-interested-in-certain-trees-in-your-yard-should-you-be-concerned/693547/1 "2014-07-19T19:43:05Z")

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Should you be concerned about the health of certain trees in your backyard if woodpeckers seem very interested in them, or does it not mean anything?

The trees look OK from the ground but I would not want one of them coming down on the house.

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-woodpeckers-are-very-interested-in-certain-trees-in-your-yard-should-you-be-concerned/693547/2 "2014-07-19T19:47:45Z")

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It could indicate an infestation with wood boring insects. Or maybe they just want to put a nest hole there.

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-woodpeckers-are-very-interested-in-certain-trees-in-your-yard-should-you-be-concerned/693547/3 "2014-07-19T20:19:31Z")

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if they are moving around on the tree they could be looking for food. if they find food they will stay on the tree. look for holes and bark damage.

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**Author:** ![Fishtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ed655f/32.png) [@Fishtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fishtar)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-woodpeckers-are-very-interested-in-certain-trees-in-your-yard-should-you-be-concerned/693547/4 "2014-07-19T20:27:00Z")

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> [@astro](#):
>
> Should you be concerned about the health of certain trees in your backyard if woodpeckers seem very interested in them, or does it not mean anything?
> 
> The trees look OK from the ground but I would not want one of them coming down on the house.

What part of the country and what kind of tree? Might be bark beetle epidemic. Or might be they are just making holes to store nuts.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-woodpeckers-are-very-interested-in-certain-trees-in-your-yard-should-you-be-concerned/693547/5 "2014-07-19T20:36:10Z")

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We have a friend who is an arborist. He came out recently and inspected the trees close to our home, did some pruning, and made some recommendations. It was cool; he wore a harness and climbed around like a monkey. Maybe call in the pros if they haven’t been looked at recently and you are concerned.