My house is made out of wood. And sometimes downy woodpeckers peck on my house. It could be for communication. I hope they don’t make a nest! And if they are looking for food, they’re not going to find any. It also makes a really weird sound.

I used to wonder why a flicker would drum on metal and now I know. It does make a rather impressive sound! I also previously thought that drumming was part of excavating for a nest. How clever of them to announce their arrival and intention.

Where I live, there are two main woodpecker species (seeing a Northern Flicker is rare): Acorn Woodpeckers and Hairy or Downy Woodpeckers. Normally, I hear their non-drumming vocalizations as they are flying or other woodpeckers are flying around. When it comes to drumming, I only hear them drilling to store nuts, make nest holes, or find worms under bark. It was interesting to learn that they can use trees or other stationary items to communicate a wide variety of information. I don't think I have heard many territorial wood drumming displays, which might be because the Acorn Woodpeckers I see live in family groups in known territories and the Downy or Hairy Woodpeckers I see are usually in very specific territories where there are not many other woodpeckers to compete with. However, when I hike, I will try to be more observant to see if I can hear different types of drumming amongst the other sounds I hear from the woodpeckers.

Now that I know the meaning of drumming I smile.  Wonder did they find a mate? are they defending their territory.

I love to hear the sapsucker drumming. It reminds me of morse code -- or at least morse code as I remember hearing/seeing performed in old movies.

Before I read about drumming I was unaware that: 1) drumming was a form of communication; and 2) that different types of drumming mean different things to woodpeckers and function differently from each other. For example, while in the woods, I would hear very loud drumming but also would see a woodpecker simply tapping on bark at anytime of year. Reading about these differences has heightened my observations about woodpeckers and have improved my ability to determine what they are doing and when.  My favorite siting is of a Pileated Woodpecker, deep in the woods in Central Connecticut. S/He was excavating a cavity in a dead tree. The bird would tap/drill then throw out the debris with great force. It was fun to watch.  My husband took this picture in July 2024.

Every Spring there's a Northern flicker that drums on the metal rain gutter just outside my bedroom window, much earlier in the morning than I care to get up. Gutters make very effective drums!

I caught this guy later in a tree, looking all innocent... "Who, me?"

I have witnessed drumming as a signal from the Downy Woodpeckers around the area.  The more common and initially surprising signals were the loud calls of the Northern Flicker.

My fun learning opportunity was when a Pileated Woodpecker was working hard on the UNDER surface of a limb on my ash tree, in central Texas.  He'd been there for a bit when a squirrel showed up to investigate!  Both of them spent some time chasing each other around that same limb.  Animal interaction.  Love it!

Didn't realise the huge variety of drumming that exists

Nest Cavity Completed on Pecan Tree.

How interesting is life inside the Nest Cavity and the process it takes to complete it, taking around 7 to 10 days of intense and hard work.

Amasing!

Having lived in the UK and the USA the sound of woodpeckers drumming is one of my favorite evocative memories of woods in the spring in both places. I also love the calls and this was very in formative about the types of calls. In the UK the calling of the Green Woodpecker is particularly interesting - it sounds like laughter! I don't know which type of call that is though and will try to find out.

I never thought of drumming as being like song in other birds. But it makes sense. I’m trying to learn to ID woodpeckers by their drumming patterns. One of the loudest is the Northern Flicker that likes to drum on a metal plate on our chimney. You can hear him all over the neighborhood. :-)

I’ve heard woodpeckers drumming quite loudly and always thought it was digging for food!

I was on  a walk with my family. We were by a local lake. I heard drumming. It was loud. I walk toward the sound and saw a Pilated Woodpecker.

Yesterday, I was birding at Magnuson Park in Seattle, and heard two different drumming patterns. I quickly found the hairy and downy woodpeckers responsible. And my flicker friend continued drumming on my chimney flashing yesterday.

Now, when I go behind my backyard into the forest where the Sapsuckers like to nest (Big old Cottonwood) I pay more attention to what kind of drumming it is, i.e. what they are trying to communicate. This morning, I was able to identify a mated pair dialogue: it was a Northern Flicker calling to its mate, whom I believe was calling from the cavity nest. I was then able to locate where that NF cavity nest tree was and will continue to visit to see its progression. Last year was easier as a couple nested in an Aspen cavity right on my front yard so I would hear them all the time. I was also able to monitor the nest- freshly excavated cavity- of a Hairy Woodpecker family. I believe we had had the fledgling hang around our feeders all winter. I have actually taken this course because of my growing fondness and interest in "my" backyard woodpeckers. I live in Northern British Columbia in a mixed species,  sub-boreal forest so it is prime habitat for all the woodpecker species of NA.

A Yellow Bellied Sapsucker has been drumming on house, this week, he has been tapping on the stucco, but prefers the metal gutters and fascia.  Located in central Ontario.

I love kayaking the rural swamps in South Carolina.  Early morning missions are the best because it is so quiet and then all at once you hear drumming off in the distance.  It is amazing how far the sound carries in these areas.  Sometimes it is a surprise to hear and other times it is a welcoming sound.  I have always believed they are Pileated woodpeckers and now learning from this class I believe I can confirm that these are drums from a Pileated woodpecker.

Had a doctor's appointment today and he was telling me about a woodpecker who has been drumming on a small hurricane-resistant glass window for a month!

We don’t have woodpeckers where I live (other than sporadic occurence of Great Spotted). The descriptions of the different kinds and purposes of drumming has given me much more understanding of what is going on when you hear a woodpecker drumming, and will be really helpful when I travel to places with woodpeckers.

I am lucky to have a Wonderful World of Woodpeckers right in my yard. Really great learning about all these calls and drumming patterns that I have observed for years. My next step will to be to start really listening and see if I can figure out some context!

Years ago, I was teaching a class at Bellevue Community College (WA state) during the spring time. The class and I were regularly entertained with the drumming of a woodpecker (either a pileated or northern flicker) on a light post in a parking lot across campus! I didn’t know then what the significance of this communication was, but assumed it had something to do with the mating ritual.

In my area, the drumming communication of Downy Woodpeckers being answered from others around the neighborhood is a common sound. The woodpeckers also visit my suet and sunflower seed feeders throughout the year and are one of my favorites visitors.  Their perky chirps often announce their presence.

About three springs ago, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers chose a branch of our aged Siberian Elm to build a nesting cavity.  The first indication that they were working on a cavity were the bits of wood found underneath the branch.  The cavity entrance was underneath the limb, which helped prevent the persistent European Starlings access to the nest.  The woodpeckers successfully fledged two young, which they would bring to the feeders for food gathering instruction.  Unfortunately, the branch with the cavity fell during a wind storm the next winter.  However, I couldn't resist sawing the section with the cavity from the branch and displaying it in one of our gardens.

I did not know that the rapid drumming is a form of comunication and not for excavating or dining.