The Flickers have come back. They usually visit in the winter but they are here before Halloween this year. You might be wondering what is a Flicker and why should you care about it?
Well a Flicker is a bird. A rather large, pretty bird. It stands about 12-14inches tall. It has a pretty spotted chest with a black gorget around the neck. It has red patches under the wings that you can get a glimpse of as it flies and that's why it's called a Flicker. You see "flicks" of red in flight. Its official name is the Common Red Shafted Flicker. All of this is rather benign but there's one more thing to know about a Flicker. It's a woodpecker!!!
So this little beast is back and that means flocks of them will try to attack my house for the next few months. No wood is safe when there are Flickers In the neighborhood.
We have tried all sorts of methods to get rid of these pesty critters. Typical "scarecrows" such as fake owls, or sparkling CDs dangling under the eaves, or wind socks blowing in the breeze are mere obstacles the Flicker can deal with. We've resorted to throwing pebbles at them at night when they roost on the walls (and then "decorate" the house with "calling cards"). We have even tried scaring them with loud noises. The Flickers just fly away to return the next day and start pecking away again.
Houses in our neighborhood have had shutters, eaves, molding, and doors destroyed by the birds. All of us have tried numerous ways to get rid of them but they come back every year just like clockwork. They are not discouraged as long as there is wood to peck on.
Not only are they destructive, the noise is annoying, especially if you have a headache already. And did I tell you they decorate the house with great long droppings that have to blasted off with a pressure washer?
Last year, as the season ended, we discovered "bird spikes." No these do not spike the bird and ready it for a fricasee. They are a series of long nails embedded into a plastic strip. You install the strips of bird spikes under eaves or on top if places you don't want birds to roost. We saw them being installed on the roofline of the local mall after it was inundated by pigeons. We found a hardware store that sells them in foot long strips and we installed them along the eaves. Well--the bird spikes are going to be tested. I'll let you know if they work.
So far so good. I've heard the call if the Flicker. I've seen them hovering under the eaves by their favorite places but I have NOT seen them land on the wooden eaves nor have I heard them hammering away on the house.
(As an aside, the cartoon character,Woody Woodpecker, was created by Walter Lentz because his roof was being destroyed by the rascally bird. The original Woody was an insane bird that destroyed things for the heck of it. As far as I know, a Flicker is not insane like "Woody Woodpecker.")
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