Yes, they're flickers. As long as the bird is hitting metal and not wood, they won't do any damage. They will do some fairly serious damage on wooden attic vents and wood-based siding, I had to replace a vent, and one of the neighbors had to replace the top part of the siding on his house.

We use a super-soaker squirt gun to shoo them off.

IF I could persuade my hubby to get up there, do you thing putting a "scarecrow" of some sort would keep them away? We had them earlier in the spring and then they went away. Just recently have they started their morning wake up calls.

How about an owl! Ace Hardware in Denver has an owl advertised right now that you can get online too. See below. IÂve seen these before, buy never an animated one like this is.

At my last houseÂa rentalÂI had something pecking somewhere "on top" too for a while. It lasted for several weeks. I later had downy woodpeckers build a nest in my dying cottonwood, and sometimes wondered if it had been them, but I think the woodpeckers pretty much stuck to the trees, so IÂd say a flicker is a pretty good guess for the noisy guest. And the noise was always early in the morning tooÂjust like you. Back in the early 70's in an apartment I had the same thing happen, but that time they were just outside and above my bedroom window under the roof overhang, so every morning, as soon as they came, I pounded on the window a few times to scare them away, and after a week or so, they gave up. The did come back the next spring and I had to repeat the whole thing. ItÂs AMAZING how much noise they can make!

Back in the 80's, at my house in Parker, the house was absolutely mobbed by pidginsÂdozens and dozens and dozens of themÂthe roof and everything else was covered with poop, so I found this inflatable snakeÂlike BIGÂand put it up there, and it actually workedÂfor a while. The Colorado sun fairly quickly did a number on the plastic, though, and it deflated, and apparently it wasnÂt scary anymore because it quit working. I think an owl would work better than a scarecrow type thing.

Good luck,
Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: Owl!

I have one of the cheap (no motion, no sound) ones in my barn and it does work. It just has to be moved every so often. I keep it where I can reach it with a steep stool and the birds and even small animals are not seen inside the barn as often as before the owl took up residence. Good Luck!

Bonnie

I've also heard that streamers work...e.g., plastic or paper strips that flap in the breeze. The motion is supposed to scare them off. Or something reflective. When it sees its reflection it will feel threatened and leave that spot alone.

You may NOT have my owl, Deb. Don't even think to ask.

Today, the momma sat and watched me as I pushed my rototiller in and out so as not to have it belching smoke and noise and frightening her. The babies flew out of the barn as soon as they saw me enter.

She just gave me that indignant stare as if I was frightening but only in a rather horrid, contemptible sort of way.

Tuesday, they were all out of the barn when I arrived in our veggie garden. So I checked out the barn at my customary ground-level, moving around some loose hay on the floor so as to make it more difficult for the mice to hide (didn't find a one). I did turn up a rabbit leg (apparently not the lucky one) and a rabbit skull was in another part of the barn.

What first alerted me to the owls in the roof trusses was a seagull leg on the floor weeks ago. It is gone now . . . There are plenty of "owl pellets" with mouse hair, feathers, bones, etc.

You may NOT have my owl, Deb. Don't even think to ask.

digitS'

jeesh, hope it is just the flicker. Which I have never heard of. In my last house a woodpecker was determined to use it for "life". I had to go into the attic and fill dozens of holes it had made. That thing would not go away and bet it is still there. They are extremely destructive.

These birds are also protected, so you cannot harm them. I tried all the suggestions, nothing worked. I also did some things which if caught would have been hauled to jail, but didn't hurt them. Had to do with spraying bleach, they are sensitive to smell, but this only worked until the smell went away. They lock on to a location and it is theirs.

Digit, your owls are the only thing that would work. Those birds know darn well when the fake ones are around.

The best solution is sound, and a pain. Everytime that little guy showed up I would go around and slam windows shut. He would leave until the next day. Tried the shimmery tape, bought ribbons, etc. Never worked. Something that is shimmery and makes sounds helps more, perhaps a windchime together with the tape or hang old CDs from one which will clang some more and catch the sun.

Can they be trapped and taken somewhere else? Even skunks were protected where I lived. The ole moth balls worked, but we weren't supposed to do this.

Hope you do not have a woodpecker.

We're part time residents in Estes Park and have a huge problem with birds pecking holes in our siding (very poor quality board and batten) and nesting in the walls. When we were last there in May I filled 12 holes with expanding foam insulation and screwed on plywood covers. A neighbor recommended hanging CDs from the eaves, which I've now done; the jury's still out on that, but there was still one new hole before we left.

We have flickers (which make *really big* holes) and occasional woodpeckers, but the worst by far are the pygmy nuthatches. They are extremely bold and persistent and would have 20 holes in the house, easy, if I let them. (This is *not* a big house, mind you.)

Luckily, the house needs residing. I'm in no rush, but I'm thinking cement board. Hah!

-- Fred

I don't hear them pecking in the wood siding. It is just that metalic rat a tat tat thing. And it vibrates down the chimney's metal walls so it is really loud.

So I guess what you are saying DigitS - is that I can't have your owls?? :o)

If your bird is a flicker... it rat-a-tats on your flashing as a mating drum... loud and gets noticed. Flickers are territorial, if you provide a home for it with a bird house, you will only have to deal with one flicker coming around.. and once it has mated, it will stop pounding on the chiminey.

Woodpeckers generally peck on the wood parts of houses as they are looking for food and nesting places. Suggestion is to provide them with a home also.. (food if you want to start providing a feeding station).

Otherwise you could follow the decoy and detracting devices mentioned above. (move the owl around or it just becomes another fixture in the yard).

You may not move my owl, Deb. However, that may be the key with a decoy of my owl. You can look back at the advice of a wildlife biologist at the Department of Natural Resources on the GW link below.

"Use of owl and hawk decoys may be successful if properly undertaken. Decoys must be moved TWO OR THREE TIMES a day and it is best to have more than one type of decoy."

In 2006, I made a guess that loss of peas and beans was 30% to the rabbits. That may have been conservative. The bunnies sheared the peas from ground level near cover to about 20% of normal plant height about 25 feet out into the garden. In that 25 feet - the plants didn't produce.

This year, the damage to the peas by the bunnies was almost unnoticeable. Last week, the alfalfa field next door was cut. I saw a rabbit racing about looking for cover during the process. By now, I suspect that rabbit is history.

Meanwhile, down the road about one-half mile, a neighbor has obviously allowed domestic rabbits to run free and breed. A little farther on there was quite a colony at a park over the last few years. When I visited a couple of days ago, the domestic rabbits were nowhere to be seen. The park department fenced an area last Fall to allow dog owners to take their pets off the leash. The place has become quite popular with the doggy set. May be the reason that the black and gray floppy-eared bunnies have left.

digitS'

Here is a link that might be useful: the ultimate in rodent control