3 Reasons Woodpeckers Attack Homes

Dealing with a woodpecker that is causing harm to your home can quickly push even the most even keeled individual to lose their cool. In this article, we’ll explore the 3 reasons woodpeckers attack homes.

Woodpecker Foraging Holes woodpecker nesting hole

One of the main reasons woodpeckers attack your siding or roof is that they are foraging for food. And if they have decided to take up residence at your house, you have at least one food source that they love.

Female carpenter bees will drill small round holes about the size of a dime into many different types of wood including siding and roofing. And once these holes are drilled, they can set up a variety of tunnel systems behind the face of the wood to lay eggs, sometimes becoming 2-3 feet long.

Unlike carpenter bees, leafcutter bees look for existing structural problems in your wood siding to take up residence. Woodpeckers that have found leafcutter beds will often make small horizontal or vertical rows of holes as they search for food.

Bagworm larvae resemble tiny caterpillars. Their casings can be attached to a tree trunk, wood fence, or you siding. While they are attached to the outside of your home, an interested woodpecker will still damage the outside of your house when they go for the goodies inside the casing.

Woodpecker Drumming Holes
In addition to foraging, many woodpeckers choose to drum on homes during their mating season. And as you can imagine, certain materials on your home will resonate louder than others, namely metal.

Homes with aluminum siding and fascia or trim boards on wood, stucco or brick homes are common targets. Metal gutters, downspouts, chimney tops or roof vents are also frequent recipients of this type of behavior.

Given the resonance of these materials, it’s hard to miss this sound. As a side note, the first time we had a woodpecker drill on our chimney, I thought we had a bird inside our fireplace it was so loud. Drumming holes tend to be smaller and shallower than holes caused by foraging.

Woodpecker Roosting and Nesting Holes
Roosting or nesting holes are most commonly found in homes within close proximity to wooded areas. They also will typically occur in clapboard, board-and batten or tongue and groove siding made of redwood or cedar.

Holes are commonly drilled at the point of the siding that offers the least resistance, the seams. Regardless of whether or not you have vertical or horizontal seams, these holes can be quite large. In one case at my house, we had a hole big enough for a football to fit through.

Roosting holes are usually created in the late summer and fall in preparation for winter while nesting holes are usually built in the beginning of the breeding season between late April and May.