A woodpecker of montane forests from southeastern Nigeria and Cameroon east to the highlands of East Africa. Males have a red forecrown and nape and spotted or barred yellow-green underparts.
About 18–20 cm long. Males have a red forecrown and nape, grey face and throat with fine dark barring, olive-green upperparts, and yellow-green underparts marked with darker spots and bars; the folded wing shows a red patch. Females have a black, white-spotted front crown and a red rear crown.
It inhabits moist montane forest at about 900–3,000 m, especially ravines and edges, and may visit nearby isolated dead trees. It eats insects, particularly ants and caterpillars, forages alone or in pairs and mixed flocks, and excavates a tree-hole nest.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.