The Black-necked Woodpecker occurs on the western side of the Peruvian Andes. It has a black throat and upper breast, a barred body, and feeds mainly on ants and other insects.
The throat and upper breast are black, and the back and belly are barred. Both sexes have a pale face and head sides; the malar stripe is red in males and black in females.
It uses wooded valleys, nearby scrub, cactus areas, and riparian woodland. Insects form the main diet, including ants, larvae, and pupae.
At Huamanguilla, Peru, a January–March 2007 nest was excavated in a living avocado tree. Its oval entrance was about 7 cm across and 3.5 m above ground, with excavation chips lining the bottom.
The summer nest at Huamanguilla contained two eggs; in June–July 2007, four eggs were found in the same cavity.
At that site, both parents built the nest, incubated and tended the young, bringing them arthropods.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.