Woodpecker Holes in Your Tree in Vaughan
Short answer
Woodpeckers dig into trees to find insects, so fresh holes usually mean something is living under the bark. Neat rows of small holes are often sapsuckers and do little harm. Large chipped patches on an ash tree point to emerald ash borer, and that tree needs a look this week.
How urgent? Book a look this week
Heavy woodpecker work on an ash almost always means emerald ash borer, and dead ash turns brittle fast.
Check this first
- Light patches where outer bark has been chipped away, called blonding
- Small D-shaped exit holes in the bark
- Neat horizontal rows of small round holes
- Large oval or rectangular holes with wood chips at the base
- A thinning crown with dead branches at the top
A woodpecker on your tree is a sign it has found food. Sometimes that food is sap, sometimes it is insects under the bark, and sometimes it is carpenter ants in a rotten core. The holes they leave behind tell you which one.
Read the Holes
The pattern of holes tells you what the woodpecker is after.
Light Chipped Patches on Ash
If your tree is an ash and you see pale patches where the outer bark has been flaked off, that is called blonding. Woodpeckers strip the bark to reach emerald ash borer larvae feeding underneath. Look closer and you will often find small D-shaped exit holes about the width of a pencil, and vertical splits in the bark. Up top, the crown thins out and dead branches show from the top down.
Rows of Small Round Holes
Neat horizontal or vertical rows of small holes, close together, usually belong to a yellow-bellied sapsucker. It drills wells, comes back to drink the sap and eats the insects that collect there. Birches, maples and fruit trees get it most. A healthy tree handles this fine. Heavy, repeated drilling that rings the trunk can weaken a small tree.
Big Oval or Rectangular Holes
Large holes, often deep, with a pile of wood chips at the base, usually come from a pileated woodpecker. They dig after carpenter ants, and carpenter ants live in wood that is already soft. A big hole like that means rot inside the trunk.
Scattered Shallow Pecks
A few shallow pecks here and there, with no pattern, are often a bird checking the tree, or drumming in spring to mark territory. If the bark and crown look healthy, there is nothing to do.
How Serious Is It?
- Ash with blonding: the tree is infested and usually already dying. This is the one to act on.
- Sapsucker rows on a healthy tree: keep an eye on it.
- Large holes with chips: rot inside the trunk. How serious depends on the size of the tree and what it could hit.
- Any tree with dead branches at the top: the problem is bigger than the holes.
What to Do Now
- Take a photo of the holes, the bark and the whole tree.
- Check whether the tree is an ash. Five to nine leaflets per leaf, in opposite pairs, is the giveaway.
- Look for dead branches over the house, the driveway or the sidewalk and keep people clear of them.
- Don’t wrap or paint the trunk. It does not stop insects or birds.
Some ash trees can be protected with treatment if the infestation is caught early. That treatment is a licensed applicator’s job, and we don’t do it. Once more than about half the crown has died back, treatment rarely helps.
Woodpeckers and Ash in Vaughan
Emerald ash borer has killed most untreated ash across the GTA, and Vaughan planted a lot of it. Newer streets in Maple, Vellore Village and Patterson were lined with ash and honey locust, and plenty of backyards got an ash too. The ones still standing are the trees woodpeckers are working on now.
Dead ash dries out fast. Within a year or two, limbs turn brittle and can drop without a storm. That also makes the tree unsafe to climb, so a dead ash often needs more careful rigging than a living tree of the same size.
If the trunk is 20 cm or wider at 1.37 m, a City of Vaughan permit applies. Ash trees get the simpler permit: no fee, no replacement tree and no arborist report. If it is a boulevard tree, call Vaughan Public Works at 905-832-8585.
What a Dead Ash Usually Costs
Across Canada, taking down a dead or ash tree typically runs $400 to $3,500. The low end is a small ash in an open front yard. The high end is a big backyard ash over a roof, behind a narrow gate, where brittle limbs have to be roped down piece by piece. Waiting tends to push the price up, because the wood gets more brittle every season and needs more rigging. Your quote is free and firm before any work starts.
Other Trees Woodpeckers Work On
Ash is the big one, but not the only one. Birches stressed by drought attract bronze birch borer, and woodpeckers follow. Old willows and silver maples with hollow cores draw pileated woodpeckers after carpenter ants. On those trees the question is the same: how much sound wood is left, and what the tree could hit.
When to Call Us
Call or text (289) 444-0864 if you see blonding or D-shaped holes on an ash, or large woodpecker holes with chips at the base of any tree. Text a photo of the bark and a leaf and we can tell you a lot before we come out. We quote the same day and book the work fast.
For ash that is past saving, our ash tree removal page covers how we take it down safely. If the holes came with mushrooms at the base, read what mushrooms on a tree mean.
Quick Questions
Do woodpeckers kill trees?
Rarely. They follow the insects or decay that are already there. The holes are a symptom, not the cause.
How do I know if my tree is an ash?
Ash has leaves made of five to nine leaflets set in opposite pairs, and bark with a diamond pattern on older trunks. If you are not sure, text us a photo of a leaf and the bark.
Can I fill the holes?
There is no need. Sealing holes does not stop insects or rot, and trees close small wounds on their own.
Is a dead ash dangerous?
Yes. Ash dries out and turns brittle within a couple of years after it dies, and limbs can snap without warning. It also becomes risky to climb, so it often needs more rigging to take down.