Woodpecker deterrents

I have relatively limited experience with woodpeckers. I have had some success with flash tape and the battery powered spiders. Unfortunately, nobody has any battery powered spiders right now. Does anyone have experience with bird b gone’s “Avian Block” that uses odor to repel birds? I had a client ask and it seems like long shot to me, but I thought I’d ask here.

I have not tried that material because birds are not known to have much of an olfactory system. What does it smell like? A predator? Rotten eggs?

I have successfully used mylar strips, mylar balloons, scare eye balloons, and putting aluminum fascia or coil stock over the area.

Yeah, most birds can't smell. Seems woodpeckers can at least smell sweet tarts.


"Woodpeckers have a better sense of smell than most birds and may be able to detect the strong odour of the formic acid that ants, bark beetles and termites excrete (smells like Sweet Tarts.)"


https://edmonton.wbu.com/downy-woodpecker-fun-facts#:~:text=Woodpeckers%20have%20a%20better%20sense,(smells%20like%20Sweet%20Tarts.)

And then from an Audobon site, the exact opposite.

Because they have no sense of smell, woodpeckers use their keen sense of hearing to detect insects. This may account for their habit of turning their heads to the side while clinging to trees; it may be that they are trying to get a better listen. Once an opening is created, Pileated’s use extremely long sticky tongues to extract the insects.

https://mtaudubon.org/2012/02/pileated-woodpecker/

And then there's this:

https://www.audubon.org/magazine/january-february-2014/birds-can-smell-and-one-scientist


Seems like they have no idea anymore.

I’ve had success with flash tapes and owl decoys.

Yes sir, I forgot about the owl decoy. And the hawk decoy too. Both have worked - sometimes.

I would not begin with any odor deterrent for woodpeckers. I may try it as a last resort. In fact, I rarely use odor deterrents because when I have tried that the customers reacted negatively to that method. However as usual it depends upon the specific location and your market.

Please report back with your experiences, findings, and conclusions.

Thanks for the input guys. I’ll let you know what happens. In general, I have little faith in any deterrents, but of course with woodpeckers we have no choice. I just wish I could find more spiders - they need about 12, it’s a big lake place.

probably plenty of spiders on Amazon or any Halloween website