The Puerto Rican woodpecker has a black body and a bright red throat and breast.

The Puerto Rican woodpecker is a common and widely distributed species in Puerto Rico, mainly occurring in forests, coffee plantations, mangroves, palm tree groves, parks and gardens.

This stems from the fact that during the Pleistocene epoch Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, St. Croix and the other Virgin Islands constituted a single landmass.

It is believed that at this time the species extended its range to St. Croix and Vieques.

[4] Like the majority of woodpeckers this species uses its bill to drill holes in trunks in search of prey.