Who's knocking on my house?

You'll know when they're back by their drumming on your roof vents or the side of your house (I spotted the first one this year on Feb. 22 pecking a telephone pole). You may love them or hate them when they cause damage to your house. Northern flickers, also known as woodpeckers, are migratory birds that winter in the southern United States and arrive back here around March.

What can you do about them? As a migratory bird, they are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. The Act prohibits the killing, capturing, selling, trading and transport of any migratory bird protected by the Act without authorization of the Department of Interior U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This means you must apply for a depredation permit before you can use any lethal methods on them. If you are suffering severe damage to your home, you may want to go this route, but it has to be the last resort.

The males start drumming on objects such as roof vents to protect their territory and to attract mates. An easy way to prevent this drumming, if you don't like it, is to attach/glue a carpet piece to the vent. The carpet muffles the sound, deterring the flickers from drumming.

Flickers peck their way through siding and pull out insulation in order to build a nest. Weathered and water-damaged wood siding and stucco are perfect materials as they are easier for them to peck into. Stucco sounds like rotted wood when they peck.

What can you do to keep them from continuing to peck holes in your siding and building nests other than replacing your siding? If they've already built their nest, there's nothing you can do until the baby birds fledge and leave the nest. Once the nest is no longer being used, you can repair or cover over the hole. This does not stop them from returning and pecking another hole into your home.

Since they like to find protected areas under the eaves to build their nests, you can net off these areas to prevent access. The bird netting should be attached to the eaves and angle down and attach to the siding. If you don't mind your home having a few decorations, you can hang old CD's, make-up mirrors or mylar strips from the eaves. The movement and flashing of these devices can "scare" the birds away from your home. Replace them as they get damaged.

There are motion activated spiders that can be mounted under the eaves in the areas where flickers do the most damage. The spider senses movement and drops down startling the bird. These are popular devices around Halloween and can be found online.

Another option is putting up nesting boxes for them to use rather than your home. You can find the specifications online if you want to build your own. One step to encourage them to use your nesting box instead of your home is to fill it with sawdust. In order to use the box, they have to clean it out much like they would if they were using an old tree or your home. It may take them some time to find the box, so it is not an instant fix. https://nestwatch.org/learn/all-about-birdhouses/birds/northern-flicker/

You can also go out when they are drumming or pecking and make noise to scare them away. You need to be consistent in interrupting their activities.

If you are interested in talking to a Wildlife Master about dealing with flickers or other wildlife conflicts, you can leave a message at 303-678-6238 or e-mail [email protected]