Woodpecker attacks side-view mirrors and windows in Rockport, MA

[RandomTroll]

https://www.newbedfordguide.com/territorial-woodpecker-wreaks-havoc-vehicles-massachusetts/2025/04/26

Another woodpecker attack came up in a thread in 2017:

Woodpeckers versus side-view mirrors

'About two dozen car owners in the Nob Hill neighborhood of Snellville, Georgia, were perturbed in late October by what they thought was vandalism: Their cars' side mirrors were being shattered, even in broad daylight. Finally, according to WSB-TV, one resident caught the real perpetrator: a pileated woodpecker who apparently believes his reflection in the mirrors is a rival. Because pileated woodpeckers are a protected species, neighbors had to get creative with their solution. They are now pl…

[bing]

Yeah, I had a robin attack our window. When he came back the second year I got aggressive. Couldn’t get any work done with him hammering away.

I did have a woodpecker attack our siding though. I thought a shot gun would do too much damage to the siding so used other methods. Filled the hole with wood epoxy and never had another problem. On to the bat invasion. I respect protected species but there are limits. Humans are a protected species too.

[jtsanders]

@bing

I thought a shot gun would do too much damage to the siding so used other methods.

Aw, c’mon. The birdshot would give the siding that distressed look!

[TwinTurbo]

@jtsanders

Aw, c’mon. The birdshot would give the siding that distressed look!

Plus, if the pellets took on the outline of the woodpecker, that would put the others on notice.

I had a pileated woodpecker hammer a 2" diameter hole through a soffit once. It may have been his last hole too…

Some years prior, I had a bluebird that would not leave my car mirrors alone. Constant pecking at them and pooping all over the sides of the cars. Tried scaring it off more times I can count. It finally gave up and went somewhere else. Rarely seen around here so didn’t want to harm it.

[jtsanders]

We occasionally have woodpeckers pecking the house. There’s no exposed wood, they peck the aluminum gutters. I suppose if they’re looking fork a mate, the aluminum noise travels farther.

[glasspilot]

Years ago my girlfriend called me about a woodpecker pecking the cedar shakes on her house. She said she called animal control and the first thing out of their mouths was: “You can’t kill them!”. I suggested she should have talked to me 1st and we would have taken care of the problem with my pellet gun.

[lion9car]

@bing

I did have a woodpecker attack our siding though.

This can be a sign of ants or other insects under the siding. You might want to do an insect treatment to be safe.

[bing]

No ants but millions of those Asian beetles everywhere.

[Triedaq]

The birds that peck on auto windows and mirror are known as Gobel Birds. Any of you remember George Gobel and him saying "I’ll be a ‘dirty birdie’ "?

[Hugemoth_144444]

When birds peck on my car mirrors I just drape a rag over the mirror. Works every time.

[glasspilot]

Reminds me of an old Seinfeld stand up joke. “Growing up my Mom had a Parakeet and she let him fly around the house once in a while. In the living room one whole wall had a mirror on it. The Parakeet would fly into the mirror. You would think he’d try to miss the other bird!”

[MikeInNH]

@Hugemoth_144444

When birds peck on my car mirrors I just drape a rag over the mirror. Works every time.

Rockport MA is a fishing village on the Coast. Better tie the rag down because there’s almost always an ocean breese.

[TwinTurbo]

All these seacoast towns have bigger problem than woodpeckers. Seagulls. They like to pick up shellfish and drop them from high up so they break on impact and makes the tender bits available for easy consumption. Unfortunately, they do not care if it hits your car versus the ground. Used to be a big problem when I worked in Salem MA and parked along the seawall.