A small woodpecker described from Costa Rica's mountain forests. Its brownish body has a small red crown-to-nape patch in males.
The Costa Rican account describes a small, brownish bird. Males have a small red patch from the crown toward the nape; females have a brown head.
In Costa Rica it uses mountain-forest canopy, edges, and older secondary forest, and nests in holes in trunks or branches.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.