Woody the (annoying little snot of a) Woodpecker

This morning, 5:30 am, “Bangity-Bangity-Bang!”

It’s my local woodpecker, an every-other-day little annoyance pounding on my rain gutter again. Right outside my bedroom. As the sun rises earlier each morning, he’s waking me earlier.

I’m guessing it’s a display of male woodpecker studliness, “I’m a loud woodpecker, and you should want me!”

How can I get this little bugger to leave my house alone? Right now I have get up, go outside and shout 'til he leaves. I tried rocks but stopped when I heard one land in my gutter and stay.

My presence doesn’t seem to worry him enough to prevent his return the next day - or later that morning for that matter.

If identfication is an issue, he’s gray, with a black bill, and about medium sized - larger than a robin, smaller than a crow. He’s got a nice twittery song. I live here in west Denver.

My wife is suggesting a pellet gun - I’d like to try not to escalate to killing the little pest.

-B

Here’s one site with ideas on “Control Methods” (scroll down a bit).

Hope this helps.

You’re probably right about the motivation. “Drumming” is used as a territorial advertisement, which is why they do it on rain gutters and such objects that make a lot of noise. From your description, it sounds like you are dealing with a Northern Flicker.

While a pellet gun may be appealing, woodpeckers are federally protected. This site suggests some non-lethal alternatives, in particular using a garden hose on the culprit. Other deterrents can include scary objects (owls, “big-eye” balloons, owl decoys) or sounds (tapes of distress calls).

I knew a guy some years ago who came up with a clever solution to a woodpecker that was both waking him up and damaging his house. First, he put some sort of plastic stick-on sheet over the place the woodpecker was interested in, which both protected it from damage and made it sound softer when pecked. This was partly successful - but the woodpecker would still peck at the wood just outside the plastic protector.

Then, the inspiration. He took a piece of some sort of resonant metal (might actually have been a gutter section) and mounted it on a tree some distance from the house. It took a few days, but the woodpecker eventually found this and decided it was way better than the house had been as a pecking spot. So, no more house pecking.

Actually, the new pecking target was still too loud. After a couple of days my friend deadened it a bit, and both he and the woodpecker were happy.

YMMV