The Scaly-breasted Woodpecker occurs across the Amazon region. Adults are chestnut to rufous, with dark bars above and below; males have a red malar stripe.
Adults are about 22.5 cm long, chestnut to rufous with dark bars on the upperparts and underparts. Males have a red malar stripe that females lack; both sexes have a pale bill.
PeruAves reports that it favors Amazonian terra firme forest and often joins mixed-species foraging flocks. The account calls it uncommon in Amazonia and records it up to about 1,200 m along the Andean foothills.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.