Their scapulars and the wings' coverts and upper surface are black with small rusty-buff spots on the flight feathers' inner webs.

Adult males have an entirely red head and neck with a small black and white spot on the ear coverts.

They do have a wide whitish strip with black edges that extends from the bill to the ear coverts.

The adult's bill is a long horn-colored chisel, their iris white to yellow-white, and their legs dark gray.

Juveniles resemble adults but are duller and browner; their upperparts are whiter and their underparts have less contrast.

It tends to hunt on tree trunks and the bases of limbs, where it pecks and hammers vigorously and also probes and flakes off bark.

It tends to forage singly, in pairs, or in family groups, and only rarely joins mixed species feeding flocks.