It is found on Trinidad and in every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

In the nominate subspecies C. e. elegans adults of both sexes have a buffish cream forehead, crown, and crest.

They have deep rufous-chestnut upperparts with a cream-buff rump and uppertail coverts, and sometimes faint black bars on the back.

Juveniles are similar to adults but havea dull blackish face and darker mottling on their underparts.

[4] Subspecies C. e. hellmayri is somewhat darker than the nominate overall and especially on the crown; its wing coverts have more spots and the flight feathers more bars.

Subspecies C. e. leotaudi is paler and brighter than the nominate and has a tawny crown and a yellower rump.

[4] The chestnut woodpecker's primary food is ants and termites; fly larvae and fruit are also significant parts of its diet.

It forages singly, in pairs, or in small loose groups, and frequently joins mixed species feeding flocks.

Its drum is a double rap "dop-dop", given by both sexes "frequently and loudly in breeding season".