Why Hang Strips of Aluminum Foil on the Siding of the House

Features

• When you hear or see a woodpecker drilling into your home, it may be looking for food or shelter. Insects burrow into wood siding and trees, attracting the foraging woodpeckers. Nesting woodpeckers force their way through vents, eaves and holes to live inside homes. The damage they cause can be significant. Woodpeckers also mark their territory with noise. They drum loudly on gutters, chimney caps and HVAC units, sometimes for weeks. During mating season, the birds are especially active in noise-making and nesting.

Tactics

• Driving off woodpecker vandals requires patience and persistence. According to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, woodpeckers are migratory, nongame birds and are protected by state and federal laws. You can discourage them but not poison or kill them without a federal permit. Because the birds are persistent, you may need to try several methods to evict them. Physical barriers block off the woodpecker from the wood. Bird nets, hung from the eaves, keep birds away from the wood. Metal flashing or plastic sheeting over the siding and painted to match the house send the birds seeking softer targets. Sound effects such as flash guns, rock music or bird distress calls work on some woodpeckers but may annoy neighbors.

Visuals

• Visual bird deterrents such as plastic owls or window hawk eyes work for a short time, but the birds become accustomed to them and soon ignore the simulated prey birds. Visual movement is more effective. Homemade techniques include hanging pie plates, spinning pinwheels or foil tape strips. These reflective objects move with the breeze and startle the birds. Commercial bird foil strips, available at garden stores, protect homes and trees. Homemade strips, made from household aluminum foil, may be a practical woodpecker deterrent. Cut the aluminum foil in strips 2 to 4 inches wide and 3 to 4 feet long so that they move freely in the breeze. The University of Kentucky suggests attaching each strip to a string 8 to 10 inches long and hanging each string from a small brad or nail so that they swing easily. Space them 6 to 10 feet apart along the eaves.

Alternatives

• For more decorative options, use the reflective foil strips on windsocks attached to the eaves or to tree branches. Small reflective windmills placed in or along the house eaves may discourage woodpeckers. Shiny wind chimes and reflective plastic garden spinners may scare off the birds.