An East African montane woodpecker. The 2023 Clements Checklist treats it as a distinct species based on plumage and genetic evidence.
Males have a red crown, finely barred gray face and throat, olive upperparts, and yellow-green barred underparts. Females have black speckling on the forecrown.
It uses moist montane forest, ravines, edges, and dead trees. The account describes probing epiphytes and dead wood.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.