Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house

You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers.

Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?

One woman in an Alva community has endured squawking for months after the pesky peckers made a home on her roof.

The homeowner, who did not want to be identified, contacted Wink News about her feathered friends.

Rene Stella is the owner of Unique General Services. He got called out to repair and paint over damages caused by the woodpeckers.

“Well, they make holes like that one everywhere. I mean, this house has problems in a few areas, we already take care of them, because they don’t have anything in there,” said Stella

Several species of woodpeckers can be found in Florida at different times of year; all woodpecker species and eggs are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

The birds like to burrow inside decorative foam, which, Stella said, is a type of architectural material used on many Florida homes.

As long as the birds are there, his work on the home is on standby.

“Well, we can’t cover it because right now, they have some birds in there,” said Stella. “And I don’t think it’s good to close that and leave those birds in there.”

WINK News contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about what this homeowner could do next.

They told us when a woodpecker has an ‘active nest’ like this, they can’t be removed without a federal permit or be scared away.

If the bird is nesting:

• An active nest is a nest that has eggs or flightless chicks. These nests are protected and cannot be removed without federal permits. Adults cannot be scared away from the nest either.
• An inactive nest is one that does not contain eggs or flightless chicks. Inactive nests (other than species afforded additional protections such as Red-cockaded and Ivory-billed woodpeckers) can be removed at any time.

They also offered the following tips.

To help prevent conflicts with woodpeckers, there are several options that residents can try:

• Hang Mylar streamers, compact discs, pie tins, mirrors, or other shiny objects from the eaves of your building or in trees where the birds are seen pecking. Moving, reflective objects tend to make birds nervous and may cause them to avoid those locations.
• Install a motion-activated sprinkler or alarm device that will go off when the woodpecker lands on the structure or tree to scare the bird away.
• Cover wood structures with metal mesh, screening, aluminum flashing, sheets of plastic or other alternative-wood siding to prevent the birds from accessing the wood easily and causing damage.
• Installation of hardware cloth or other sturdy covering over trim to prevent nesting.
• Treat insect-infested wood structures to eliminate the possible insect food source woodpeckers are looking for. Provide suet feeders to attract woodpeckers to specific locations rather than structures. Leave standing dead trees and stumps or rotting logs where possible to provide nesting cavities and basking sites.

It is important to note that deterrents cannot be placed covering the opening of an active nest cavity or at a location that will cause birds to abandon a nest cavity during nesting season since it can cause the loss of young birds.

WINK News reporter Maddie Heron connected the homeowner with the team from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

She told WINK News a biologist is heading to her home next week to discuss her next steps in handling those persistent woodpeckers.

To speak with a wildlife assistance biologist for more guidance, please contact the FWC regional office closest to you. More information on woodpeckers can be found here.