This small woodpecker is widespread across northern and eastern South America. It favors forest edges and regenerating woodland over dense forest interior and searches bark for insects.
In adult males of subspecies olivinus, the crown and nape have red, the upperparts are bronze-olive with pale barring, and fine pale bars continue across the underparts.
It forages from low vegetation to the canopy, tapping bark for ants, termites, beetles, and larvae. Nest cavities have been recorded 5–13 m high in stumps, palms, or bamboo clumps.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.