When you hear their distinctive hammering outside your window, it’s natural to wonder if woodpeckers cause damage to trees. Generally, woodpeckers rarely cause serious damage to trees. However, their visits COULD indicate a tree health issue. As such, don’t ignore a visit from these noisy neighbors.
The woodpecker family is a large family with hundreds of species. When it comes to your trees, the most common species of concern are likely sapsuckers and pileated woodpeckers. Sapsuckers leave a series of small holes in rows and columns. They feed off the sap that flows from these holes. Further, this sugary sap attracts and traps insects that the woodpeckers eat upon their return. Unlike these small holes, pileated woodpeckers can dig much larger cavities in trees when searching for food. They prefer soft, weak wood, which is often already decaying or infested with insects.
Why Do Woodpeckers Peck?
The birds uncover borers, larvae, and other insects living under the bark with their pecking, but they also tap trees for reasons other than looking for food. They communicate with each other by “drumming” on trees. Their noises could indicate they are seeking a mate or marking their territory. Additionally, woodpeckers may drill holes for nesting in dead or dying trees.
Woodpecker Damage to Trees
A tree in good health can easily withstand most woodpecker activity. All the more reason to keep your trees healthy with sound cultural practices: soil care, mulching, and proper irrigation.
Woodpecker holes themselves do not kill trees. However, their activity does create wounds that make the tree more susceptible to insects and disease. Given that concern, it’s important to monitor trees that woodpeckers are visiting. This is especially true for sapsuckers since they can cause more extensive damage than other species. A few scattered rows of holes is not typically noteworthy, but repeated and heavy attacks can reduce tree growth and increase the potential likelihood of tree failure. In extreme cases, sapsuckers may cause a girdling injury, where the holes encircle the entire trunk or an entire limb and restrict the movement of water and nutrients throughout the tree.
Deterring Woodpeckers
You can minimize woodpecker damage to trees by wrapping a material like burlap around the main stem or branches of a tree. This method will discourage damage and is practical for prized ornamental or shade trees that you want to protect.
However, an excessive number of holes may indicate that the tree already has an insect pest problem. In this case, rather than attempting to deter the woodpeckers, it’s more effective to address that underlying issue. If the pest can be effectively managed, the woodpecker will no longer be attracted to that tree for the food source it provides.
Keep in mind that holes in a tree can also be a sign of wood-boring insects. If you are concerned, a Certified Arborist can provide guidance and assist in correctly identifying tree problems.
