Woodpecker damage on cedar tree

[Fireaxman]

The woodpeckers are tearing up the cedars around my cabin. One tree was so pecker-holed that I had to take it down. I'd like to save this tree, but I don't know if there is anything I can put in the "excavation". Any thoughts?

Shotgun would manage some of the damage if I could be there when the d@mn birds came around......

Rather than condeming them, I'ld like to suggest you thank and encourage the woodpeckers for showing you where your sick trees are. Unlike Sapsuckers, which attack healthy trees for the sap, Pileateds eat mostly carpenter ants and wood boring beetles. The heart rot that attracted the bugs in the first place is the big problem. The woodpeckers are just opening it up so you can see it. Better to find it now, and get the weakened trees removed, than to wait until a storm comes through and then have one come down on your summer retreat because of an unknown weakness (heart rot).

 

[jrietkerk]

Unlike Sapsuckers, which attack healthy trees for the sap, Pileateds eat mostly carpenter ants and wood boring beetles. The heart rot that attracted the bugs in the first place is the big problem.

Don't care what they eat. . . light up some tires on fire and drive the buggers away with the smoke, maybe put out some poison bait for the gophers. . .

I'll bet he's already hosed the trees and the kid down with some contact insecticide.

Wonder how 'unstable' the trees were - I climbed 70 or 80' into a western redcedar with excavations big enough to use for holds, and had no problems with the wood being too unstable in any way. I'd get lambasted and fined here for shooting any birds, or irresponsibly hosing down trees with poison. Sorry, but you're out of hand, even for Virginia.

 

[tree md]

Don't care what they eat. . . light up some tires on fire and drive the buggers away with the smoke, maybe put out some poison bait for the gophers. . .

I'll bet he's already hosed the trees and the kid down with some contact insecticide.

Wonder how 'unstable' the trees were - I climbed 70 or 80' into a western redcedar with excavations big enough to use for holds, and had no problems with the wood being too unstable in any way. I'd get lambasted and fined here for shooting any birds, or irresponsibly hosing down trees with poison. Sorry, but you're out of hand, even for Virginia.

Not sure what to make of that. At best your drunk. At worst an uneducated fool if you think woodpeckers are killing your trees.

 

[jrietkerk]

Not sure what to make of that. At best your drunk. At worst an uneducated fool if you think woodpeckers are killing your trees.

think this through - I'm just being satirical, as I don't think the original poster has much to say anymore. However, it would be best if I was drunk. . .

 

[tree md]

think this through - I'm just being satirical, as I don't think the original poster has much to say anymore. However, it would be best if I was drunk. . .

LMAO!

 

[Fireaxman]

They do make nesting boxes, or you can--why not put one up so they be stoppin their choppin?

Pileateds are way cool to watch. Beauteous.

This one was in the swamp on Tchefuncte River a couple of months ago. We were in Kayaks, making little noise, and he was so intent on the beetle larvae in this dead black gum that he let us get within just a few feet. It was getting late, the light was poor, and he was constantly in motion, so the picts are a little blurred. But believe it - our biggest surviving woodpecker can really make the bark fly!

Too bad we have lost the bigger one, the Ivory Billed. Too much insectiside and too many summer cottages, I suppose. There are rumors of a few of them still surviving in Atchafalaya Swamp, but no one has been able to document them photographicly. At least, lets do what we can to keep this one around.

 

[tree md]

Fireaxman, I have a dear friend in Lafayette who was telling me they believe they have spotted the Ivory Bill and have even got a pic. Have you heard anything about that? I believe it was the Ivory Bill. It is one of the wood peckers that they have thought to be extinct for a half a century.

 

[Fireaxman]

Fireaxman, I have a dear friend in Lafayette who was telling me they believe they have spotted the Ivory Bill and have even got a pic. Have you heard anything about that? I believe it was the Ivory Bill. It is one of the wood peckers that they have thought to be extinct for a half a century.

Yessir. Lafayette is real close to the Atchfalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya swamp, pronounced kind of like "Chafalya". That was where I was referring to when I said "...rumors of a few of them still surviving in Atchafalaya Swamp". Pretty strong testimony from some reputable locals from what I understand, but I was not aware of any pictures yet, and from what I understood it sounded like the national "Experts" had not found one yet. Maybe I dont have the "Latest and Greatest". I'll check around on the web tonight and see what I can find.

Would love to know there are a few still around. The Pileateds are pretty impressive for a woodpecker, but from what I have heard the Ivory Billed were nothing short of Majestic.

We are starting to get a few Bald Eagles back down here too. One landed on my pond last spring, and a pair did that aerial display over my house. And, the Osprey are back in pretty good numbers. Good news. The swamp is finally recovering from DDT.

 

[Fireaxman]

Yep, I was way behind on this. Sightings in Arkansas have been confirmed, and there is a video and a Management Plan. Couldn't find anything on sightings I had heard about in the Atchafala, but saw some references to sightings in Texas and Florida.

Good News! If they got'em in Arkansas, bet we've got a few down here in the Louisiana swamps.

Well, maybe. Thats why they say Cajuns make better lovers. They'll eat Anything.

 

[StihlRockin']

From early on I didn't think Sapsuckers were wood peckers. They are a different breed.

Woodpeckers usually peck at rotted/rotting wood for insects. They instinctually know where to look for their grub. Sapsuckers on the other hand are a major reason so many red-headed woodpeckers get killed by overzealous home owners looking to get rid of the Sapsucker. The red head is getting a raw deal and being mistaken for the Sapsucker.

Sapsuckers, in my area, peck shallow even lined holes in the bark of certain trees for 2 reasons. One is to get the sap dripping and the other is to set a trap. Insects that are attracted to the sap get stuck within it. The Sapsucker makes his little traps all over the place and tends them regularly. Each time he comes, he may feed on both the sap and the insects stuck in the sap.

Because the Sapsucker digs such shallow holes, I don't see how this would kill a tree on a regular basis... after having known trees to have very good healing properties from larger physical damages. I don't think Sapsucker's hole making is a reason for the tree to die.

If concerned about holes being made either by Sapsuckers or wood peckers, they can be filled in with grafting wax or the tree can be lined with mesh wire as a preventative for further pecking.

StihlRockin'

 

[tree md]

Yessir. Lafayette is real close to the Atchfalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya swamp, pronounced kind of like "Chafalya". That was where I was referring to when I said "...rumors of a few of them still surviving in Atchafalaya Swamp". Pretty strong testimony from some reputable locals from what I understand, but I was not aware of any pictures yet, and from what I understood it sounded like the national "Experts" had not found one yet. Maybe I dont have the "Latest and Greatest". I'll check around on the web tonight and see what I can find.

Would love to know there are a few still around. The Pileateds are pretty impressive for a woodpecker, but from what I have heard the Ivory Billed were nothing short of Majestic.

We are starting to get a few Bald Eagles back down here too. One landed on my pond last spring, and a pair did that aerial display over my house. And, the Osprey are back in pretty good numbers. Good news. The swamp is finally recovering from DDT.

Yeah, I remember now that They first thought they spotted one in the Atchafalaya Swamp. There were experts searching for them and trying to document proof of their existance. I remember they had some video footage of what they thought to be an Ivory Bill. Wasn't very conclusive though. If I'm not mistakened, the Ivory Bill has a solid white bar running the lenght of it's tail feathers where it's closes relative has a broken white bar. The video was grainy but it did look like it had the white markings of the Ivory Bill. They also had what they thought to be audio recordings of the Ivory Bill. I'm glad to see they have been spotted elsewhere.

We have an abundance of Bald Eagles here. In one of my tree stands near a steep creek bluff I see them nesting every year. I sat in another stand in that same creek bottom a couple of years ago and counted 30 Bald Eagles flying up the bottom in a mornings hunt. Don't matter how many times I have seen an Eagle fly before, It always makes my spirit soar every time I see one.