This small woodpecker has different head patterns in males and females: males have a red crown, while females have a white crown. It excavates its own tree cavity for nesting.
The male has a white forehead, a red crown and nape, and a black postocular stripe. The female has a white crown, a red nape, and no black postocular stripe. The back, wings, and tail are barred black and white; the belly is cream.
It is active by day and eats invertebrates, nectar, and fruit. It excavates tree cavities for nesting; the record describes dry-season breeding and clutches of three to four eggs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.