A tiny woodpecker of humid forests in western, central, and eastern Africa. It searches low forest layers for wood-boring beetle larvae and other insects.
The male has a chestnut-rufous forehead; the female lacks it. Both have a dark eye-stripe with a fine white line above, a gray head, dark greenish upperparts, and dark gray underparts.
It forages in the lower forest story, taking wood-boring beetle larvae and other insects. It may occur in pairs or small groups of three.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.