The specific name hodgei is for Captain S. Hodge, of the Royal Navy, who was stationed in the Andaman Islands at the time.

Juvenile birds look like adults but have browner, duller plumage and brown eyes, and may have with feathers in the crown.

The species differs from the white-bellied woodpecker in not having a white belly and having more slate-coloured plumage (as opposed to black).

The species is threatened by the loss of habitat, as the human population of the Andaman Islands increases and clears forests for agriculture.

[3] Because of this threat, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as being vulnerable to extinction.