[3] Some authors have treated it as a subspecies of the golden-fronted woodpecker (M. aurifrons), and the two hybridize in the north of Hoffmann's range.

[4] Hoffmann's woodpecker is found from southwestern Honduras' Choluteca Department through Nicaragua on the Pacific slope to central Costa Rica.

[5] The species inhabits dry and deciduous forests and more open areas such as shade coffee plantations, urban parks, and house gardens.

[4] Hoffmann's woodpecker typically forages from the forest understory to its canopy, though it has been observed feeding on the ground.

[4] The breeding season of Hoffmann's woodpecker spans at least from January to July and typically two broods are raised.

Both sexes excavate the nest cavity in soft dead wood, living palms, or fence posts.

The cavity is typically between 1 and 6 m (3 and 20 ft) above the ground, and both sexes aggressively defend it from other Hoffmann's woodpeckers and tityras.

[1] It has "increased its distribution in recent years due in part to deforestation following growing human colonization" but "[e]limination of dead trees...negatively affects the population of this species, by limit[ing] the nesting substrates.