This woodpecker is endemic to Luzon in the Philippines. It has a red back and patterned yellowish underparts; nests were recorded in dead trees along a forest edge.
The back is crimson, the yellowish belly is patterned, and the chest and throat are spotted. The tail is black. Males have red crests; females have black crests spotted with white.
Two nests studied at the Subic Watershed Forest Reserve on Luzon were in dead trees at the forest edge. At one observed nest, the female fed nestlings moths, a butterfly, beetle larvae, and a small lizard.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.