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Q. For the last several weeks I have been awakened by a woodpecker beating on the rain gutter outside my bedroom window. He's like clockwork showing around 6:40 each day. He doesn't appear to be going after any insects; just pounding on the gutter like a tom-tom. This morning I woke up early and went outside in anticipation of his arrival and noticed I could hear the sound of his pounding on several rain gutters throughout the neighborhood. Right around 6:40, there he was right on the end of my gutter and, even though I was standing on the patio and clapping my hands, it didn't seem to bother it. As a matter of fact, it flew down to a tree branch near me as if to challenge me. After it flew up to a higher branch, I noticed the arrival of a second and third bird, following the same routine of pounding on my gutter and then moving on to my neighbor's gutter and doing the same. Is this some kind of bird communications ritual? I know there's a Federal law against harming a migratory bird. Does this mean the woodpeckers have migrated to our neighborhood in Annapolis?
While checking the Internet for information, I found a variety of unusual deterrents being advertised. I am looking to you for advice on what's practical, reliable and legal to do to deter this woodpecker practice. This is also the first time I have experienced this situation in the 25-plus years I have been in my home. Thanks for any advice you can offer. I'll certainly convey it to my neighbors since I'm sure they would be glad to rid themselves of the annoyance as well.
A. I'm no expert on bird behavior but I have seen woodpeckers do what they are doing to you. Usually it has to do with either looking for something to eat or attracting a mate. Woodpeckers going after carpenter bee larva or other insect food sources can destroy wood siding and trim and I have even heard of them attacking aluminum siding or, in your case, gutters, making the predictable racket.
When my friend parked her car at her house, a bird - always the same one, it seemed - would go after her side mirror attacking its own reflection ferociously. This went on, I think, until she changed cars. Her new car has a side mirror also, but the bird seems unaffected by it and leaves it alone. Explaining that is well beyond me.
For safety's sake, I'm glad you've learned that the BB gun option is off the table. There's a whole industry surrounding bird control but it seems to center on dissuading them from landing of rooftops or parapets of buildings or window ledges leaving ugly, unsanitary deposits of guano.
Bird droppings can spread transmittable diseases including West Nile virus, avian flu, bird flu and St. Louis encephalitis, to name a few.
Spike strips are products of companies like Bird-X, Bird B Gone and Nixalite and they also offer a variety of bird dissuaders that range from electronic sound generator devices to sticky gels that birds don't like to put their feet on as methods for bird control. The recent airliner landing in the Hudson River due to an unfortunate encounter with a flock of geese certainly highlighted potential problems with birds, even on the wing.
The products I like the best are sort of a modern extension of the old fashioned scarecrow devices gardeners and farmers would place in their fields, hoping to frighten away birds wanting to feed on the crops, which are called visual scare devices. They range from electronic strobe lights to holographic shiny round owl head things that you hang in the area you want to clear and the birds think it's a scary predator. I don't think you need to invest too much money in devices aimed at wholesale bird control.
Bird-X's Web site has a questionnaire you can fill out describing your problem from which they will suggest some of their products as a solution. After perusing the products offered, you may be able to improvise something from things you have around the house and still get the job done. I prefer non-lethal methods of control. After all, most of the time we try to attract birds to our yards. I've even heard of sprinkling cayenne pepper on the areas in question, so you might give that one a try. That's cheap.