To deter northern flickers, focus on making your home less attractive to them by removing their food sources, creating barriers to their entry, and providing alternative nesting sites. You can also use visual and auditory deterrents.
Here's a more detailed approach:
1. Remove Food Sources:
Trim or remove trees: If flickers are feeding on insects on your trees, consider trimming branches or removing the trees altogether.
Seal cracks and openings: Ensure no insects or other food sources are accessible inside your home.
Avoid placing bird feeders near the area: This can attract other birds, including flickers, and make your property more appealing.
2. Create Barriers:
Install screens:
Use screens over windows and doors to prevent flickers from entering your home.
Cover ledges and cracks:
Use materials like metal sheeting to cover any ledges or cracks where flickers might perch and drum.
Use fishing line or wire:
Tightly stretched fishing line or wire can prevent flickers from landing on areas where they are drumming.
3. Offer Alternative Nesting Sites:
Install a nest box:
Provide a suitable nest box near the area where flickers are drumming to encourage them to nest there instead of your home.
Use wood shavings:
Fill the nest box with wood shavings to satisfy their pecking behavior and provide nesting material.
4. Utilize Visual and Auditory Deterrents:
Reflective materials:
Reflective streamers, windsocks, or reflective tape can be used to deter flickers.
Predator silhouettes:
Hang hawk or owl silhouettes to mimic predators and scare flickers away.
Loud noises:
Use loud noises, like clapping or banging metal, to scare flickers away from drumming areas.
Screeching sounds:
Play recordings of screech owl sounds or other predator calls to deter them.
5. Other Tips:
Check for underlying issues:
If flickers are drumming on your home, it could be due to an underlying problem like moisture or an insect infestation.
Consult with a pest control professional:
If you have a persistent flicker problem, consider contacting a pest control professional for specialized advice and solutions.
I have a somewhat similar situation. I have some kind of bird who likes to rapidly tap my chimney, making it sounds like someone is running an electric drill on the metal. This is not a woodpecker, am I correct? And how do I get them to go away?
I have a somewhat similar situation. I have some kind of bird who likes to rapidly tap my chimney, making it sounds like someone is running an electric drill on the metal. This is not a woodpecker, am I correct? And how do I get them to go away?
That one is an easier problem to solve, you find a way of dampening the sound so they fly somewhere else to make the sound.
Years ago I cut out a thin sheet of rubber to fit the top of my chimney, glued it on there and never had them come back. A month later or so I went back up on the roof and cut the rubber off.
Obviously make sure you aren’t blocking any vent portion of the chimney if you go this route.
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How to get rid of a Woodpecker
