Do you know what species?

If it's a woodpecker that pecks for insects, you might have other issues. If it's trying to produce sap to lure insects, you have a stupid woodpecker...but seriously, they do have different behaviors and knowing the identity of the bird can be helpful.

Fori, that's interesting - I've never heard of them trying to produce sap, but then I know very little about birds!

antiquesilver, The piece of wood is not rotten, that's the damage that he caused.

Fori, from what I saw he was a Red headed woodpecker .

I had good luck with a helium filled mylar balloon on a ribbon bobbing around in the area the woodpecker is targeting. They stay inflated for a while...maybe even plain air would work.

Pesky when the pound the house, no?

Yes, do tend to that wood to get rid of the woodpecker food from there. It might be the wood he's pecking on, and also could be bugs further in and this is the "closest to the surface" spot that the bird is pecking to get access into deeper.

And it might sound a bit counter-productive, but consider putting out some woodpecker food feeders elsewhere but not too far away in your yard. Try luring the little guy off to some feed to leave your house alone while you get it fixed. If you got a wood post or tree bit that you don't mind getting pecked up, you can try "washing" it with some sweet goo to attract insects to there. Live and easy access feed for the bird.

You could replace the corner trim with PVC.

My woodpecker loves PVC, especially during "drumming" season.

Wow, I didn't know that about woodpeckers and sap, that's interesting. I have a log-sided house and occasionally hear one having at it -- usually a quick opening of the window is enough to scare it away.

I have a woodpecker that goes at the Vinyl Trim at my house corner

Wow. That’s intense, especially since this is not mating season. Fancy some wind chimes on an L-bracket? That usually will do it. The thin shell ones make a light tinkle, but make lots of motion.

Thanks! Interesting about them pecking on pvc/vinyl.

Never had a problem with them over 28 years since I sided the house in cedar.. Neighbor had a problem years ago, but a lot less damage. Haven't tried the wind chimes.

I was think maybe replacing the damaged board with some type of Hardi board or LP Smartside trim. Also was thinking about putting aluminum over the damaged section temporarily as a temporary fix.

We have cedar siding and this was one of the things I was warned of when I made the decision to use cedar. we’ve been here for going on 2 yrs. and so far so good.

We are on a lake and there are a lot of trees. I have seen a woodpecker going to town on a tree. I wonder if that tree is keeping him occupied enough to leave my house alone.

in my old neighborhood my neighbor had a brick house with EIFS in several areas. they had some pretty good damage on the EIFS from woodpecker/s.

hope you figure this out and quickly...how upsetting that must be.

Look at insecticide options. Woodpeckers destroyed the wood siding of my parents’ vacation home during the off season when they were not there to observe the damage. I cannot recall all the particulars, but there were either insects or their eggs in the places the woodpeckers attacked. (Basically up and down the vertical seam of each and every plank of siding.)