A small woodpecker of Philippine forests. This entry covers the three subspecies aligned with the candidate taxon and excludes the Sulu population.
In the three included subspecies, the back and wings are spotted and barred, and the head has black-and-white stripes. Males may show a red mark on the nape.
The three included subspecies search among high branches, especially dead ones, for ants and insect larvae. They use primary, secondary, and cloud forests.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.