He could plant a mountain ash tree close to the house.  The dang sapsuckers 
are extremely fond of scraping the bark of these, and never give up!  I've 
had 3 or 4 working the same tree at a time...  I read somewhere in a bird 
guide that they are extremely shy of people but this is not the case.  They 
sit there and look dumb even if you walk right up to them and shoo them away 
  (my mountain ash grows right by mey deck)!

Actually, all it took to discourage the sapsuckers for a while (till the 
tree grew!) was to tape paper bags around the favorite scraped sites.  They 
didn't understand the new appearance and seemed disoriented.  However, the 
tree soon was to big to fully wall-paper, and they took over, girdling one 
main section last year.

I wouldn't bother with a plastic owl, since that is just one more noisy 
th8ing to hammer on! ;-)

Stephanie Bellomo
Jericho


>From: Jeannie Elias <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Vermont Birds <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [VTBIRD] Any ideas how to convince a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker to 
>Change Venue?
>Date: Mon, 1 May 2006 06:30:51 -0400
>
>A neighbor, who knows I am a birder, is requesting help in getting a YELLOW
>BELLIED SAPSUCKER to stop drumming on his house (the soffits and fascia of
>his roof, right outside the bedroom I think).  He wondered if  plastic owls
>might work...  Anyone have ideas?  The main issue for him is that this
>occurs at 5am and it awakens his entire household...and of course, he does
>not think this is very good for the wood.
>Thanks.
>Jeannie Elias
>Fayston
>PS He is not a birder, so it could be a downy or hairy woodpecker...but the
>problem is the same no matter what woodpecker it is.

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