[5][3][6][7][8] The American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithological Committee, and the Clements taxonomy recognize these six subspecies of crimson-mantled woodpecker:[8][3][7] BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treats C. r. atriceps as a separate species, the black-crowned woodpecker.

[6] The specific epithet rivolii honors French ornithologist François Victor Masséna, third Duke of Rivoli and third Prince of Essling.

Their face is mostly pale yellow with a dark red malar stripe and a black chin and throat.

[11] The crimson-mantled woodpecker forages at any level of the forest, typically on moss- and lichen-covered limbs but also on trunks.

It usually forages singly or in pairs, but does regularly join mixed species feeding flocks.

One author surmised that it spans June to November in Peru and another suggested that (possibly species-wide) it includes February to March.

What is thought to be the song of the crimson-mantled woodpecker's most widespread subspecies brevirostris is "a series of fairly monotone, rapid metallic notes...kee'r'r-ker'r-ke'r'r.

[10] The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy and so has assessed the crimson-mantled sensu stricto and black-crowned woodpeckers separately.