A passionate pileated woodpecker has damaged 20 cars in a coastal Massachusetts town — but residents have a sense of humor about it.
Pecking Pileated Woodpecker Damages Vehicles in Massachusetts
Published on Apr. 25, 2025
If your car gets vandalized during springtime, it might be best to get a clear look at the perpetrator: as the residents of one Massachusetts town recently learned, your “criminal” might not be human. Here’s how one particularly passionate pileated woodpecker managed to cause damage to trucks, trailers, and more. Plus, learn why birds can turn to vehicle destruction at this time of year and how you can protect your car.
What Happened with the Massachusetts Pileated Woodpecker?
As birders know, pileated woodpeckers have some heft. The largest woodpecker in North America, they can be almost 20 inches in length, with a wingspan of up to 29 inches. It’s no shock, then, that pileateds create sizable holes in trees with their massive beaks. But what happens when that force meets a car? Residents of Rockport, Massachusetts, found out.
Rockport resident Janelle Favaloro was among the first to uncover who was behind the whirlwind of damage. “There has been a vandal breaking vehicle mirrors,” Janelle wrote in a Facebook post. “He is described as 18-24 inches tall, wearing black and white, with a red hat.”
Another Rockport resident told the New York Times he was sitting in his truck when the pileated landed, and that it left a “nice, big crack” in the glass. In total, the woodpecker has damaged more than 20 vehicles.
“It’s wildlife, so you can’t really do a whole lot about it,” Janelle said in an interview with PEOPLE. “But I think you just have to look at it with a sense of humor.” But to the pileated, she joked: “This is not really the best way to attract a mate. I don’t think the women are going to be impressed.”
Impress your friends with fascinating woodpecker facts.
Why Do Birds Attack Mirrors and Windows?
This pileated woodpecker doesn’t have a vendetta against the people living in Rockport, nor is he trying to get them to file a string of eyebrow-raising insurance claims.
As Birds & Blooms birding experts Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman have pointed out, birds can get aggressive with reflective surfaces during mating season — including car mirrors, windows or windshields. “When a bird starts pecking at a window like that, it has mistaken its own reflection for another bird and is trying to drive it away,” Kenn and Kimberly said. “Some individuals become obsessed with these phantom rivals and may attack them for weeks.”
They noted that there are a variety of strategies one can try to discourage the bird, including putting exterior screens on windows or coating reflective surfaces with bar soap. As far as car mirrors, it might be easiest to cover them when the vehicle is parked or not in use.
When breeding season ends, birds tend to lose that destructive-defensive tendency. For the citizens and cars of Rockport, that’s good news.
Follow these tips to prevent bird strikes on windows at home.
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About the Experts
Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman are the official bird experts for Birds & Blooms. They are the creators of the Kaufman Field Guide series and they lead birding trips all over the world.
