Plugging Pecker holes

[Sugar Bear]

Some peckers have drilled small holes in some of my trees. They are shallow holes about 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep but they are oozing sap profusely.

They enrage me to a substantial degree!

Is there any effective way to plug them and stop the sap from flowing?

I used some silicone over them one year and actually seemed to get some positive results, but I am looking for alternative options.

Thanks

[DrTimPerkins]

Leave them alone to heal naturally. Anything you do will only impede the trees natural wound response process.

[Russell Lampron]

Like Dr Tim said don't do anything to plug up the holes. Unfortunately you can consider that tree a cull now. Most of the trees that I have with that kind of damage tend to die above the pecker holes even if the tree isn't completely girdled.

[maple maniac65]

Some peckers have drilled small holes in some of my trees. They are shallow holes about 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep but they are oozing sap profusely.

They enrage me to a substantial degree!

Is there any effective way to plug them and stop the sap from flowing?

I used some silicone over them one year and actually seemed to get some positive results, but I am looking for alternative options.

Thanks

It would be easier to try up the culprit making the holes. But then again if the tree was healthy they wouldn't be after them bugs

[Upland]

Like maple manic said, wood peckers let you know that there's something wrong with the tree

[GeneralStark]

It sounds like by the description, the offending wildlife is a sapsucker (a type of woodpecker) and they feed on the sap of trees and any insects that are drawn to it. They make shallow holes like you describe whereas woodpeckers will generally make larger cavities if there is a food source in the tree. Sapsuckers generally will not kill the tree, but I generally look at their holes as if it was a tap hole and avoid that area for tapping.

If you have lots of wood pecker activity on a tree, it likely has rot from an injury or defect and the woodpecker is just a symptom of the tree health issue.

[wildwood]

The sapsuckers I have will make holes 1/4-1/2" apart in girdle formation around the tree, after making one row they will make another. For some reason they seem to prefer my hemlocks??? This might be related to what the literature says regarding them preferring early successional growth, due to tanneries here most of the hemlock was killed off and we don't have a lot left on the property. They hit them when they are 2-8" DBH. Here is a decent read about the little suckers: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-bellied_Sapsucker/lifehistory and https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/pathogen-articles/nonpathogenic-phenomena/recognizing-sapsucker-damage-your-trees

We just leave them alone. I also don't cut woodpecker or sapsucker affected trees at all. They will keep coming back and that seems to keep them from hitting too many other trees. The woodpeckers killed a sugar maple pole two years ago next to the suet feeder, it is still standing and they use it as a perch/something to peck at. No other nearby trees have had any damage but I think once this maple falls or gets cut they will pick another. Think of them as your helpers, working to keep insect populations in check and possibly a good first line defense against new forest pests.

Everything works together and we should not believe that all trees in a forest should meet our human standards of a 'healthy tree' in order for the forest to be healthy as a whole!

[Sugarbush Ridge]

I had heard that the sapsuckers know which trees have the sweetest sap, highest sugar. That why they go after the same tree year after year.