EIFSFACTS.ORG

The Real Facts About EIFS  

- Woodpeckers Love EIFS -

An increasing number of local home-owners are reporting problems with woodpeckers attacking their EIFS. Short of killing them, it appears that it is very difficult to persuade them to leave the home. Those who have this problem and are considering a trip to the store to buy a pellet gun should read the following article from the Deseret News Publishing Company dated 1998.

Headline: Federally protected woodpeckers won't leave new Riverton Library construction site RIVERTON, Utah (AP) --

Construction workers at the new Riverton Library have been unable to get rid of two woodpeckers who have made the site their home and are protected under federal law. Construction on the exterior of the building is nearly complete, and officials of Paulsen Construction Co., the prime contractor, hope they can find a way to get the birds to move elsewhere. The library is scheduled to open next spring. D.J. Waters, a nuisance wildlife control operator and owner of Urban Wildlife Control, said he has filed for a permit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to eradicate the woodpeckers. But he said it may take time to get approval from the federal agency to act on the request.

Woodpeckers are a protected species under the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. In the meantime, Waters said the contractor would place a birdhouse on the library property on Wednesday in an effort to divert the birds' attention from
the library. Efforts so far, including placing shiny streamers to produce a scarecrow effect, have been unsuccessful. Lack of wood on the exterior of the building has not deterred the birds. They pecked through a one-eighth-inch-thick layer of stucco and into styrofoam insulation material to make a home.

"For some reason, the woodpeckers like to nest in the styrofoam," said Toby Cordova, project manager for Beneco Enterprises Inc. Beneco manages construction projects for Salt Lake County.

The birds, which Tracy Aviary education curator Betsy Price said are most likely the northern flicker -- a variety common in Utah and other states -- burrowed in and started making a nest above the front entry on the west side of the library. Two or three holes about 4 inches in diameter were the result of the woodpeckers' two-or-more week stand on the library. The holes were repaired on Monday, but the woodpeckers were spotted on the building again the next day.

"They were resting on the rain gutters or on the roof, as they usually do," Cordova said.

Dave Black, vice president of Paulsen Construction, said he just hopes the woodpeckers will find a new home.

"We are expecting they will go away," he said.

Figure 1: Typical Woodpecker Holes in a Local Home's EIFS