Adult males have a whitish to buff forehead and are red from their forecrown to hindneck.

Their underparts are mostly olive-gray to olive-buff with yellowish to reddish on the central belly; their lower flanks and undertail coverts are black with white bars.

Juveniles are duller than adults, with grayer underparts but a yellower central belly.

Animal prey is mostly insects of many types but includes snails and occasionally lizards.

The species typically forages near the forest crown but will also hunt lower and in the canopy itself.

It collects food by snatching fruit and probing, pecking, gleaning, and hawking for insects.

[4] The Jamaican woodpecker's breeding season generally spans from December to August but nesting can occur in any month; pairs often produce two and sometimes three broods in a year.

Others are "single 'kao' calls in mild alarm", "'wee-cha weecha' in intraspecific encounters", and "'krirr, krirr' and more intimate 'whirr-whirr' during breeding season."