[Strawbale] Wood Peckers & Strawbale

[Rob Tom]

On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 13:12:13 -0500, Kyle Rocheleau <Kyle at VolSoft.com>  
wrote:

> Our strawbale is now 5 years old and this is the second time we've
> experienced these birds trying to infiltrate the structure. The latest
> episode is a male and female perhaps attempting to nest in the rafters of
> our beams.

Obviously, the woodpeckers are attracted to the home for reasons other  
than the straw in the walls.

Since different species of woodpeckers have different preferences WRT  
their nesting habitat, it would be useful to first identify the species of  
woodpecker and then find out what those preferences are.

Chances are pretty good that in doing so, you may identify some problem  
with the house, (ie Woodpeckers as unpaid forensic building science  
experts) just as the presence of ants or psocids are indicators that there  
is wet straw or rotting wood.

For instance, they may be telling you that the lumber that was used for  
rafters is beginning to rot, possibly because the logs from which the  
lumber was sawn was beginning to decay and/or possibly the lumber wasn't  
dry and has decayed over time  and/or there is some moisture problem as a  
result of detailing and/or the lumber was or is infested with boring  
insects etc.  (ie Rotten wood makes for easier hole-boring, hence easier  
on the drill bits.)
I'd almost be willing to make a heavy wager that the lumber used for the  
rafters wasn't kiln-dried. (I did say "almost". They may be attracted to  
the decor (ie species of lumber used) or because of the good restaurants  
(food sources) in the surrounding neighbourhood .)

If in fact the woodpeckers were attracted to the house because of a  
potential problem with the structure, then its remediation will most  
likely create conditions that will make the house unattractive to the  
woodpeckers and they will likely move on to a better (in woodpecker  
terms)neighbourhood.


Me ? I purposely incorporated features on the exterior of my home to  
attract nesting birds. And it has been a success because they keep  
returning every year. In fact, in one spot, in between the rafter tails  
under the eaves of a north-facing porch, returning birds had, like the  
Romans, built their new nests on top of previous years' nests to the point  
that the latest nest was jammed up against the underside of the roof deck  
leaving very little space for the birds to get in and out. (The label  
"bird brain" would apply (to the condo-building birds that is))



=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
<A r c h i L o g i c   at  c h a f f y a h o o   dot   c a >
winnow the chaff from my edress in your reply