An unusual guest today

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
I kept hearing this tapping sound and it was coming from the backyard. I looked and saw a woodpecker (my best guess) after something in the tool shed. I know there are carpenter bees out there - they swarm around when I'm getting the tables out for the garage sale so there are probably bee larvae the bird is after. The bees have never stung me, though, but I hope the bird comes back and brings some friends to the buffet. This is the best photo I could get because if I went out on the deck, the bird would likely fly away.

woodpecker.jpg
 

debodun said:
It's back...tried to get a better angle, but I'm so far away and enlarging the photo only makes it blurry. Looks like it in the same spot.

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iu
 

The picture isn't great but it looks like a Downy or Harry woodpecker, they look the same but the Harry is the larger of the two.

I'm not sure which is worse, a woodpecker or carpenter bees, both will cause damage.
 
I learned that they can hammer away for various reasons. If they tap, tap, tap and then pause, they do it to attract a mate, and are listening for a response. If it's an acorn woodpecker, they can be drilling holes to put acorns in for the winter. They could also just be going after insects or larvae as you mentioned. Either way, they can do some damage to structures. I have seen a lot of it.
 
Both the woodpeckers & the bees can cause a lot of damage, but in my experience the bees win. We deal with wood bees every spring with our house. This year we found wood bee traps that really do work. Husband put one up for a week or so & thought it was going to be bust & then we had about a dozen go in over a few days. We went back & put one on each side of the house.

We have a lot of different woodpeckers in our woods. My favorite is the pair of Pileated woodpecker. You can hear them no matter where are in the woods. Nothing beat them when the let loose yelling when they're flying overhead with sound #2.

 
debodun said:
I went out and looked at the shed where the bird has been pecking. Looks like it's been going on for a while.

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If you want that little pecker to stop, you could hang some cheap vinyl siding on the shed.

Looks like it found some bug larvae or woodworms in there. So, if you decide to put on some siding, give the wood a coat of woodworm-killing exterior paint first. Or, if you have a garden hose with a sprayer cup, just hose it down with some woodworm killer...it'll also kill most insect larvae.
 
It a female hairy woodpecker. Itā€™s banging to either look for food or look for a mate by communicating. They eat bees and larvae, wood boring beetles ants etc. itā€™s more beneficial for your garden than destructive. IMG_4760.jpeg
 

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