Medway, Massachusetts

How to Attract Woodpeckers

Habitat

Woodpeckers are found across North America in dense and sparsely wooded areas as well as suburban yards with trees.

Recommended Foods

Hairy Woodpecker

Though woodpeckers spend a majority of their time looking for natural food sources like beetle larvae, spiders, ants and other insects, you can attract these tough-beaked birds to your feeding station with the right mix of fat and protein-rich foods.

 

Wild Birds Unlimited Suets and No-melt Doughs are high-energy, high-fat substances that woodpeckers enjoy, especially when it’s difficult to find insects. We offer a variety of flavors that will suit your woodpeckers’ tastes.

Peanuts are the single best source for protein and fat and are great for attracting woodpeckers to your feeding station.

Jim’s Birdacious® Bark Butter® is a peanut butterbased, spreadable suet that is the perfect blend of protein and fat. It supplements woodpeckers’ diets and brings them closer for you to enjoy.

Recommended Feeders

To attract the most woodpeckers to your yard, we recommend our EcoTough™ Tail Prop Suet Feeder. It allows woodpeckers to naturally feed while propping their tail for support. They can access either side of the feeder, and it is easy to fill and clean.

 

Our Mesh Peanut Feeder attracts woodpeckers and other clinging birds. They can land and pull peanuts from any side of the feeder. It is easy to fill and clean, and it comes with a lifetime guarantee.

Jim’s Birdacious Bark Butter Feeders allow woodpeckers to comfortably cling while feeding. Placing Bark Butter near the top of the feeder also allows other birds to land on the top of the feeder and reach down to eat.
EcoTough Tail Prop Suet Feeder
EcoTough Tail Prop Suet Feeder		 Mesh Peanut Feeder
Mesh Peanut Feeder		 Jim’s Birdacious Bark Butter Feeder
Jim’s Birdacious Bark Butter Feeder

 

The Toughest Birds at Your Feeders

Downy Woodpecker

Woodpeckers are hard-headed. It comes with the territory.

When excavating, woodpeckers can strike a tree at speeds up to 15 mph. This is enough force to create brain damage in most other birds, and certainly in our human brain. But due to a number of adaptations, woodpeckers thrive on this heavy hitting.

Woodpeckers' skulls are incredibly strong, yet lightweight, due to a reinforcing meshwork of bony support struts. This skull structure moderates the impact of the blows while transmitting the force away from the brain.

With all that pounding, why doesn’t a woodpecker’s bill wear down to a dull nub? It does wear down, however, special cells at the tip of the bill constantly replace the lost material, keeping the bill strong and sharp. 

Woodpeckers' tails are as tough as their bills. Woodpeckers’ pointed tail feathers are especially strong and rigid, and their tail bones, lower vertebrae and the tail’s supporting muscles are very large in comparison to other birds.

These modifications allow a woodpecker's tail to serve as a sturdy prop that supports its weight while clinging to trees.

This behavior and many other woodpecker adaptations can be witnessed in your yard. Woodpeckers can easily be attracted to feeders filled with suet and no-melt dough, especially varieties containing nuts. Simply offer these foods in a WBU Tail Prop feeder, and you can get an up close and personal look at some of the toughest guys in the neighborhood.