This woodpecker often uses bamboo stands in western Amazonian lowland forest. One observation records it feeding in a non-bamboo tree.
Adults have a rufous head and wings, a barred back and black breast. Adult males have a red malar stripe that females lack.
It is associated with bamboo, including Guadua stands and riverine thickets.
At Sacha Lodge in Ecuador, a bird was observed pecking a Cecropia trunk and eating Camponotus ants. This is a single-site record.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.