This small woodpecker inhabits riverine lowland forest in northeastern Bolivia and west-central Brazil. Males have reddish-orange tips on the crown feathers.
The male has a blackish head with reddish-orange tips to the crown feathers. The rest of the head is buff-brown, the hindneck and sides are rusty buff, the upperparts brown to brown-green, and the pale buff underparts have faint bars.
It inhabits lowland várzea, or riverine floodplain forest.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.