Why Do Woodpeckers Peck My Gutters

No the bird food is not causing them to.

Why do woodpeckers peck my gutters.

It s true that this is one of the main reasons these birds exhibit this curious behavior. So to answer your question. This behavior tends to be most prevalent during the spring but it can continue year round. Pecking is a natural behavior for this bird and their primary way of searching for food.

The first time it happened the kids and i practically dropped to the floor thinking someone was shooting at us. To get an idea of why these feathered friends get their name we only have to look toward the most basic instinct of a woodpecker. It is used by the birds to establish territories and to attract mates. Wood siding is often quite resonant thus very pleasing to.

While the woodpecker is damaging your siding it s not the woodpecker s fault. Instead woodpeckers are engaging in the practice of what is known as drumming. This usually consists of insects and larvae. By pecking a woodpecker can pierce through the bark of a tree to retrieve their food source.

Alerting predators or establishing territory. As well as using the pecking motion as a means of finding vital food sources woodpeckers also peck at trees to create a nesting site. The sound can after all be heard from hundreds of yards away. If a woodpecker is slowly moving around your roof or siding and pecking in different locations over time then it is possible that the woodpecker is eating bugs from your siding.

Although a woodpecker s ability to peck into trees when in search of food is well known many species drill into wood where no insects exist. They eat the bugs inside. Woodpeckers excavate rotting wood to find food. The third reason why woodpeckers peck has to do with alerting other animals in the area to their presence.

For predators a loud drumming sound is often enough to discourage them from targeting the woodpecker. Woodpeckers are drumming not eating. Woodpeckers searching for insects will create almost perfectly horizontal rows of holes along the siding following the core gaps. Much more common is drumming behavior essentially the woodpecker s springtime song and this may cause scrapes or holes.

But woodpeckers aren t drilling into your gutters in the hopes of finding hidden bugs termites or other nourishment sources. Quoting from an article on woodpeckers from penn state extension. Wooden shakes and shingles also have many nooks and crannies that attract insects thereby enticing woodpeckers. The types of metal they love to use will include chimney caps metal siding and rain gutters.

The sound the woodpeckers are creating is used to mark territory and communicate with other birds of their species. If you review our woodpecker control article you ll learn that woodpeckers will commonly use anything metal to sound.