I have cedar shakes, but never had this problem. I think Northern Flickers seem to be most prone to house pecking. Is it possible there may be insects on or in the wood siding?

It is possible. I have the house sprayed with insecticide every May for carpenter bees. The carpenter bees drill holes in the cedar siding and lay eggs that the woodpeckers are drawn to. Maybe I will have to revert to spraying in September as well as May.

We tried everything several years back. Finally put up vinyl siding and haven't seen or heard then since!

I did read about the possible woodpecker issue right before we bought the house in 2005, but I love the look of cedar siding and hate to part with it!

Hey Kath, maybe you have to give up the vinyl siding for piece of mind! Hmmmm. I'll ask around for you. At least you have a few months reprieve.

Last year a woodpecker decided the metal chimney cap on the house next door was a good place to peck, at sunrise; sounded like a snare drum. All quite this year.

Sorry, meant to say cedar siding.

This is pretty funny hearing all these horror stories. They are funny.
When I was living in a woodsy apartment, I had a woodpecker who pecked at a tree, far in the distance, and I really enjoyed it. it was the first time I ever heard a woodpecker peck. It was really sort of lovely because he was sooo far away and the sound was very mellow. And it was a novelty to me, never hearing it before.

I once had a home that attracted woodpeckers. I never minded it once I figured out what it was, but I imagine having it over the bedroom window could be annoying. To me, it's a question of choosing your poison. A more urban neighborhood would have garbage pick up, with back-up beeping at 6 am. I wonder if it would have helped if you put up a bird feeder. Do downies eat from feeders? I think they do.

Spraying insecticide only threatens our water supply and the health of humans and animals. I suggest going to the Wild Bird Center store in Brookfield and putting a woodpecker house on the side of your house. My cousin did this and she now has a returning family of flickers and the pecking is gone. Live with nature, not against it.

Well said, Sarah! :-)

We had a pesky woodpecker pecking at the side of our house for a couple of weeks. This alerted us to check under the shingles for a reason why. We had unnoticed water damage and insects had taken up residence. We had the water damage fixed, shingles replaced and no bird since then.

We've had success with hanging a foot-square piece of mirrored plastic directly over the spot where the woodpecker pecked a couple of holes. I've seen people use tin-foil pie plates & we tried that, but it didn't work. Here's where we bought the shiny plastic:
Interstate Plastics Web site: http://www.interstateplastics.com/plastic-sheets-details.php?sku=ACRCLEE Or, Contact: bruce@interstateplastics.com Phone: 1-866-899-5139
Bruce's last name is Luber.
Mr. Luber drilled holes through which we've put picture wire. He said that if we tried drilling the holes, it might crack the plastic. We bought 3, put 2 back to back for added weight against high winds. The 3rd we hung in a different spot on the house.
So far, so good! Good luck.

BTW, we used to keep bird feeders, enjoyed watching the birds, woodpeckers included, but decided that all the seeds that spilled out drew other, unwanted animals...though interesting to see. I suspect presence of bird feeders would convince woodpeckers that the house nearby is a good place to peck.

We have bird feeders and we do have a woodpecker with a bright red neck, and another more muted one (male and female perhaps?). They come to the feeder, and then into the back yard where there are a few dead trees (limbs cut down) and they peck away. They have never pecked anything on our home at all. Love seeing them out there though!

Although we have lived in this house for 26 years, the Woodpecker "problem" did not emerge until the last few years. Our house is constructed of vertical cedar siding, a favorite of woodpeckers as others have noted here. According to the sources we have consulted, the pecking is usually done by male birds to establish their territory and as part of the mating ritual...and it usually takes place in the fall. We tried the streamers and aluminum strips and apart from being unsightly it was not very effective.

Thinking about owl decoys? They are largely ineffective also as can be seen in numerous books and photos on the Web of serious damage to wood dwellings in spite of "menacing" owl decoys stoically standing their vigil.

Experts believe that the woodpeckers have read these books and are now wised-up and no longer scared off by these efforts. So forget those "bird brain" references. Woody and company are quite resourceful.

Good luck to all who have this problem. Maybe we should form a support group or get these birds into a 12-step program

We also have ceder on our home. Same problem. Woodpeckers every year. Been in our home in Oxford for 35 years. I hate to do it but someday we will have to go to vinal. We have learned to live with the scoundrals besides the little holes they make add to the character of the house.

Amusing story! The Woodpeckers took a fancy to my man's stucco house and like AK, he put up an owl decoy, but also hung reflective christmas ornaments resembling disco balls off the gutters, that seems to have solved the problem.

Unfortunately you have to decide between a damaged house and the bird. As distasteful as it is, pellet guns will do the trick. Hate to do it, feel very remorseful, but can't have them damaging the trim in many places every year. I hope someone can find a better way.

Go out in a a bathrobe with the ole' Benjamin .177.

Sounds like time for a town-wide woodpecker hunt. After all, it worked for the deer right? Think about it. It gets folks out exercising, increasing skills. Perhaps the Park and Rec department could sponsor a cooking clinic on woodpeckers or maybe how to stuff them for the mantle. It's a thought!

Steven ~ Ghastly thought!
Warren ~ Is a Benjamin a gun?
Rocky ~ You present a false choice. If you go back above to the info I provided that described the success we had with the foot-square pieces of rigid shiny plastic, or to the other idea given using shiny tree ornaments, killing any of these beautiful birds becomes quite unnecessary.
If I recall correctly, there are 7 kinds of woodpecker around here, all lovely to observe; check out Wikipedia for that. I do sympathize with the pecking near the bedroom, & with the unsightliness the pecking leaves behind.
Presence of a bird feeder or not, woodpeckers, I'm told, store bits of food by pecking, & also sometimes find bugs in the siding which they peck.
Our house is over 250 years old with very old siding, so it's softer in spots, which the birds like. I urge you to consider Interstate Plastics. Here it is again in case you missed the first reference:

http://www.interstateplastics.com/plastic-sheets-details.php?sku=ACRCLEE Or, Contact: bruce@interstateplastics.com Phone: 1-866-899-5139
Bruce's last name is Luber.

John, I read somewhere that the woodpeckers are actually members of the Monroe Republican party in disguise. They aren't randomly pecking on the sides of houses, they are actually leaving special top secret messages. I guess it is away to get around the Freedom of Information Act.

I forgot to mention WHY the mirrored plastic works to deter the woodpeckers...they're territorial so when they see themselves in the mirror it fools them into thinking another bird is already there. (They must be Democrats, Bob.)

Vera, very well done. Or it could be Herman Cain leaving dirty messages!!!!!!

Ah, that's a low blow, Bob. For shame.

We have the woodpeckers every season. Sounds like the machinegun range...and we never had the solution. I certainly wasn't going to blow them away since all they are trying to do is have a meal. The mirrored plastic seems like a good idea...better than getting up on the ladder and repairing the damage. Seems to me that arguing about whether Woodpeckers are Democrats or Republicans is like two drunks aruing about the bar bill on the Titanic We need a President and Congress who will address the problem with the tough solutions necessary to avoid the iceberg which is, at this point, dead ahead.

A little humor eases tension. But yes, the ship of state is in grave danger.