Last updated on April 23rd, 2023 at 11:07 pm
Woodpeckers are one of many favorite backyard guests to homeowners living in a peck-resistant space. They’re beautiful avian creatures to look at, and they brighten up a winter’s day.
We’ve also written a guide on how to stop woodpeckers from pecking your windows.
So how do you attract nature’s tree drummers to your yard?
The top 10 foods and objects that woodpeckers are attracted to are:
1. Pine Trees
Woodpeckers look to pine trees for sap, pine nuts, cover, and shelter, so planting pine trees is a sure way to attract them.
Thankfully, pine trees are easy to care for once they’re planted.
The most important things to consider when planting a pine tree for woodpeckers is that the area gets plenty of sunlight, has rich, moist soil, and that the soil drains freely.
You can test the drainage quality of the soil by digging a hole a foot deep, filling it with water, then checking to see whether the hole is empty within twelve hours.
2. Nest Boxes
Nest boxes are a great way to attract woodpeckers. You can buy one of these nest boxes on Amazon.
For example, the Woodlink Woodpeck Cedar Woodpecker House from Amazon is about 15 inches high with a 2 ¼-inch hole in it.
This is ideal for a woodpecker or another bird of similar size.
You need to hang the nest box about 10 to 20 feet off the ground, somewhere near natural vegetation.
Make sure to keep the nest box clean and sheltered from direct sunlight.
You should also clean your nest box regularly.
After the breeding season is over, it’s safe to remove the nest from the box and then clean the feeder with a mix of 90% water and 10% chlorine bleach.
You should fill your nesting box with some wood chips to make it more inviting for woodpeckers.
And remember to replace the wood chips with new ones when you clean it out at the end of the season.
3. Suet
Suet is a woodpecker’s favorite food, especially suet rolled with peanuts and black oil sunflower seeds.
You can make woodpeckers happy by putting up a suet feeder just for them apart from the rest of the feeders.
Woodpeckers like to have some space to themselves, and they can get stressed out at a crowded feeding station.
You can either buy suet blocks for woodpeckers from the store, like these High Energy Suet Cakes from Amazon, or you can make your own at home.
The advantage to these particular store-bought suet cakes is that they are made to resist melting in the sun.
However, making your own at home can be a fun project.
Once you have your suet blocks, you can set them out for woodpeckers in a cage feeder like this one from LuckyPop, sold on Amazon.
This feeder can hold two suet cakes and provides easy access when changing them.
You can also take suet plugs and put them in a log feeder like the Kettle Moraine Log Feeder from Amazon.
Or, you can take a wooden log, drill holes in it, then fill the holes with suet.
4. Oak Trees
Woodpeckers like oak trees because they eat acorns and because they like to nest in dead trees, snags, and stumps.
If you have an oak tree in your garden and it dies, leave it there so that woodpeckers can make a home out of it.
Just trim it first so that if it does fall over, it doesn’t impact your house in any way.
5. Nectar
Nectar feeders can attract woodpeckers in addition to hummingbirds.
Just make sure that the ports on the feeder are big enough so that a woodpecker can reach in.
Many nectar feeders have narrow ports through which a woodpecker can’t reach.
An example of a good nectar feeder for woodpeckers is the Lujii Hummingbird Feeder from Amazon.
This hand-blown glass feeder has ports big enough for a woodpecker to reach through, plus it has a place for them to perch while they drink the nectar.
6. Water
Woodpeckers are like all birds in that they need water to drink and bathe in.
Try placing a birdbath like this Birds Choice Bird Bath on the ground in the corner of your yard or garden, and watch for birds.
Remember that birds like standing water, but you also have to churn and change the water regularly to keep algae and mosquitoes from appearing.
Some birdbaths have a built-in water circulation system, but you can also buy a fountain like this Solar Bird Bath Fountain to churn the water for you.
7. Peanuts
Peanuts are good for woodpeckers because they provide high amounts of fat and protein.
This is especially important during the cold months, but it’s something to consider year-round.
Woodpeckers can eat either shelled or unshelled peanuts, but they should never eat salted peanuts. Make sure that the peanuts you buy are raw, not roasted.
Ideally, you should purchase them from an animal feed store rather than a grocery store.
8. Mealworms
Mealworms are very high in fat and protein, so they make for a great winter snack for woodpeckers.
Mealworms are very natural food for woodpeckers to eat since they normally feed on insects.
You can buy live mealworms to keep in your refrigerator for up to a few months, or you can buy dried mealworms that last even longer.
9. Black Oil Sunflower Seeds
Black oil sunflower seeds are popular among woodpeckers, especially downy and hairy woodpeckers.
However, you need to remember that woodpeckers are bigger than most songbirds, so whatever feeder you choose needs to be able to hold a bigger bird.
For example, the iBorn Bird Feeder from Amazon is a great choice to fill with sunflower seeds.
10. Peanut Butter
You can use peanut butter like suet if you have a log feeder. Simply fill peanut butter into the predrilled holes.
Alternatively, you can mix your peanut butter into the suet when you make it.
Or you can smear peanut butter onto the bark of trees wherever you want to attract them.
Peanut butter is very high fat and high protein, making it a healthy snack for woodpeckers and a tasty one.