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Comment by quercusa | Hacker News Reader

There's nothing quite like the sound of a flicker hammering on a downspout at 4 am!

I have nuthatches that peck and bore large holes in my cedar siding in the spring to nest. They showed up about two weeks ago and they’ll be here through summer.

The sound is obnoxious and they’ve basically destroyed my house. I’ve tried everything to keep them away but they are tenacious. We’re currently saving up to reside the house with Hardie Board; I think that’s the only solution.

Couple of years ago, they were doing this to me every... single... day... at 4am. Nothing really scares them off. I would go outside and try to wave them off. They go just far enough to get out of your reach, or just hide on the back side of a tree trunk. Then they do that stupid Woody Woodpecker laugh, and fly right back when you go inside. I now see where Woody Woodpecker got his personality from. What a dick.

I hate woodpeckers. We had a solid year or two where there was one putting holes in our house and it just would not leave us alone. Eventually we were able to figure out a way to prevent it from perching, but until then I was on the verge of wanting to sell the house just to get away from the thing. I used to joke that the people who made the migratory birds treaty which protects woodpeckers only did so because they never had to deal with one before.

We had the variety that was able to grab onto the edges exposed by the seams in our vertical cedar siding and so had holes at random places in the wall, far away from perching locations. Owl and crow decoys plus reflective discs dangling in the wind seemed to help but it’s hard to do A/B testing for this. The house was due for another coat of stain and after that they’ve stayed away - the new color is less tree-like so maybe that helps.

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