Hydro hopes decoys will curb appetite for destruction Dave Rogers, The Ottawa Citizen 04.02.2008

When pileated woodpeckers with an appetite for pressure-treated wood destroyed 15 utility poles in Eastern Ontario, Hydro One crews nailed dozens of metal decoys to new poles in an attempt to scare the birds away.

In theory, the decoys are supposed to persuade the federally-protected 43- to 50-centimetre tall birds to dine elsewhere because two rival pileated woodpeckers don't normally use the same tree or pole. There are several hundred such decoys on trees and utility poles throughout Ontario.

Pileated woodpeckers with their chisel-like beaks gouge deep holes to dine on ants or beetles, create large rectangular cavities for nesting or make noise to mark their territories in the spring.

But at least one canny woodpecker on White Lake south of Arnprior wasn't duped by the fake bird and produced a hole as deep as a fist beside the decoy nailed to a new $3,000 pole used to carry power and telephone lines.

Colleen Todd, one of the owners of Cedar Cove Resort on White Lake, 25 kilometres south of Arnprior, grabbed her camera when she spotted a pileated woodpecker working busily beside a metal decoy on a new pole near the lodge at 9 a.m. on March 28/08.

"I went back home to get my camera and the woodpecker was still there posing for me when I returned," Ms. Todd said. "He was still digging away on a pole that Hydro replaced two weeks ago.

"The bird continued working for more than an hour and made the hole a little bigger. This happens here all the time — we call the tree service a couple of times a year to have trees removed."

Hydro One spokeswoman Daniele Gauvin said the utility company has installed woodpecker decoys between Scotiabank Place in Kanata and Renfrew to stop the woodpeckers from weakening the hydro poles so much that they must be replaced. Hydro gave up on the decoys several years ago, but is trying them again this year.

"The decoys are effective for some woodpeckers, but they don't scare the more seasoned birds," Ms. Gauvin said. "The woodpeckers like a tree with a good sound and when a hydro pole is anchored, it makes a lovely echo.

"Fake owls don't work, but the large steel woodpeckers will deter some birds. In wooded areas where there are a lot of woodpeckers they are trying them again. When it does work it is worthwhile because woodpeckers can reduce the reliability of poles if they peck at them."

Wes Pugh, another lodge owner, said Hydro One installed the woodpecker decoy at the suggestion of Bell Canada, which shares the utility poles.

"I guess this is a pretty bad theory when the real woodpecker is looking at the tin one as he hammers more holes in the pole," Mr. Pugh said. "Hydro workers come in regularly for lunch so we showed them the picture.

"They were the guys who put up the fake woodpecker and they all got a real kick out the photo. These woodpeckers will hammer out a hole the size of a football in an afternoon."

The four Hydro workers said the decoy near the lodge was the first one they had installed at White Lake. Mr. Pugh said the Hydro workers agreed that they were fighting a losing battle and would have to keep replacing utility poles.

Citizen bird columnist Elizabeth Le Geyt said woodpeckers are afraid of almost nothing and more intelligent than most people think.

"We are so arrogant that we don't credit anything with brains except a few humans," Mrs. Le Geyt said. "Of course, (the bird) knows the decoy is not a real woodpecker — if it had been a real one, he would have chased it off."

Nobody knows why woodpeckers chisel holes in utility poles, which contain no insects because they are treated with preservative.

"People are still trying to figure out why they attack the poles," Mrs. Le Geyt said. "I think that with telephone poles, particularly, there is a certain amount of vibration in the wires which gives the woodpeckers the impression that there is something moving about in there."

[id=379243453;fake woodpecker, real osprey]

An astute Icon ornithologist, Lee commented on this posting, " I have to wonder if the Pileated is not deterred b/c the decoy is not accurate for any species? The decoy has the head of the extinct Imperial woodpecker from Mexico - no white on it. The body has the right colors though. But it is larger - about the right size of the Imperial when compared to the ones it is trying to scare off.

Large birds are very intelligent. I have to wonder if they made an accurate decoy if it would work? "