The lores, cheeks, chin, throat and breast are pale yellow, buff or grey.

The lower breast, belly and flanks are barred in black and white, and there is a red patch on mid-belly.

The mantle is mainly black and the wings brownish, with the tips of the flight feathers white.

[3] Endemic to Central America, the golden-naped woodpecker is restricted to the Pacific slopes of southwestern Costa Rica and western Panama, at altitudes ranging from sea level to about 1,500 m (5,000 ft).

[2] No particular threats have been identified for this woodpecker, and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the population is thought to be steady.