Answered for Carmel, Hamilton County.
Woodpeckers are reading the tree for you. Apart from sapsuckers they are not attacking it — they follow insects, and insects follow dead or decaying wood. Heavy foraging damage is evidence that something else got there first, so the bird is the alarm rather than the fire. Sapsuckers are the exception: they drill for sap on healthy trees, and while the rows look bad and can occasionally girdle a small limb, they rarely kill an established tree. In Carmel — Village of WestClay, Brookshire and Woodland Springs included, that's normally a tree trimming job at $250–$1,400. Not urgent.
June 29, 2023 derecho — Carmel logged several medium-sized limbs down while the same line measured 70 mph at Indianapolis International. The July 15-16, 2024 derecho tracked directly through Hamilton County with damage at Westfield (about 55 mph), Cicero and Atlanta, including a barn hit by a gustnado near Atlanta. September 14, 2008 remnants of Hurricane Ike brought 50-70 mph gusts for hours across central Indiana.
Carmel Urban Forestry publishes an approved species list (last revised 3/28/2024) whose "Undesirable Trees" section reads like a field guide to what fills older Hamilton County streets: silver maple (shallow roots, weak wood), Callery pear, pin oak, red maple and all Fraxinus for emerald ash borer. Approved large street trees run to swamp white oak, bur oak, chinkapin oak, hackberry, male-only ginkgo, thornless honeylocust, Kentucky coffeetree, baldcypress and London planetree; note Callery pear is discouraged locally but is not yet banned in Indiana — 312 IAC 18-3-25 currently lists 44 species without it.
Carmel's code section 6-64 is titled "Planting and Removal of Trees and Shrub Regulations" and sits in the streets-and-sidewalks division of Chapter 6, alongside 6-55 covering trees and shrubs that obstruct streets and sidewalks — so the city's active regulation is aimed at the public way, plus landscape and buffer plantings approved through development plan review by Urban Forestry. I could not verify the exact text of 6-64 or confirm whether any permit applies to removing a tree standing entirely in a private back yard; contact Carmel Urban Forestry through the city's Department of Community Services before assuming, and check HOA covenants, which in most Carmel subdivisions are stricter than the city.
The strip between sidewalk and curb is city right-of-way, and Carmel Urban Forestry plants and maintains the street trees in it, including species selection. Many Carmel subdivisions layer a platted landscape easement and HOA covenants over that same ground, so two approvals can apply to one tree.
152 Lotus Dr Apt 1, Carmel, IN 46032
“Romeo and his crew did a fantastic job for us! Trimmed back two large red maple trees that were very overgrown, cut down a pine tree and ground up…”
Alex Miller · 2 months ago · Google
111 Shoshone Dr, Carmel, IN 46032
“I got a few quotes but Chris from Carmel Tree Service gave me the best bid by far on the job. They showed up right on time with all the heavy duty…”
John Gibson · 3 months ago · Google
14500 Dublin Dr, Carmel, IN 46033
“I have no words and I am truly speechless at the work Roger and his crew did on my home! I received a few quotes and not only was Roger competitive…”
David M. Johnson · 2 months ago · Google
14706 Harvest Dr, Carmel, IN 46032
“Anthony and his team did an excellent job of removing multiple trees in my back and side yard, along with stump grinding. They also did a bunch of…”
Frances Russell · 4 months ago · Google
4621 E 146th St, Carmel, IN 46033
“The entire staff is great to work with and, while they are a bit expensive, they do careful work and are extremely professional. In a previous…”
David Morris · a month ago · Google
10503 Becker Ct, Fishers, IN 46038
“I highly recommend Stumped LLC. Karl was very prompt at returning my online inquiry even though it was a busy time. He came out and gave me a…”
Christy Garner · 5 years ago · Google
Distance measured from Carmel.