This woodpecker occurs in northeastern Mexico. Adult males have a red supercilium that reaches only above the eye, and the bars on the underparts are wavy or scale-shaped.
In adult males, the red supercilium extends from the nape to behind or above the eye, and the rear ear-coverts are plain. Underpart bars are wavy or scale-shaped, and the tail is proportionately longer than in neighboring yucatanensis.
It gives sharp, nasal calls in short series and a low, short guttural chatter at close range. In the Gomez Farias region of Tamaulipas, it is recorded in tropical, mostly deciduous forest and edges, and humid cloud forest.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.