When woodpeckers search for food, they tend to focus on dead or dying trees. If there is low availability of such trees, they focus on living trees. Woodpeckers drill holes in living trees just as they do in window frames and sidings.

Holes created by the drilling activities of woodpeckers can heal over time. They may also be occupied by other animals such as squirrels. Squirrels may use the holes created by woodpeckers as nesting sites. As squirrels occupy the holes and stop the healing of the tree, they encourage the growth of the fungi and fasten the destruction of the tree.

Woodpeckers such as sapsuckers are a particular threat to trees that produce sweet sap. Trees that produce sweet sap are mostly found in orchards. Sapsuckers thus can cause extensive damage to orchards.

Sapsuckers cause damage to trees by creating holes that continuously produce sap. As they feed on such trees over time, they distort the natural flow of sap and cause trees to die.

The presence of woodpeckers in an area can result in significant damage in no time. If they are not searching for food or feeding on sap, they are just being destructive because it is their nature.

If not for their destructive nature, woodpeckers would be highly beneficial for the ecosystem. These birds can consume a lot of insects, ranging from mosquitoes to ants and termites. Woodpeckers can also remove clean trees by removing the insects that bore trees and dwell in them. However, their beneficial activities are closely related to the extensive destruction they cause.

The activities of woodpeckers can affect the structure of properties significantly. They can also destroy trees and wipe out orchards. Since it is the nature of these birds to destroy trees and properties, their presence in an area can be a cause of concern.