[4] The rufous-winged woodpecker is monotypic[2] but at times part of the Honduran population has been proposed as a subspecies.

Males are red from forehead to hindneck and very widely on the malar (cheek); the rest of its face is brownish green.

Their shortish beak is blackish with a paler gray mandible, their iris pale bluish or yellowish to white, and the legs olive to grayish.

Juveniles are duller, grayer, and greener; their throat and breast have buffish green spots, and their underparts' barring is uneven.

[4] The rufous-winged woodpecker is found from eastern Honduras through Nicaragua and Costa Rica into western Panama.

It inhabits humid forest but sometimes ventures to isolated large trees in open areas nearby.

[4] The rufous-winged woodpecker usually forages alone, but sometimes in pairs and occasionally as part of a mixed species feeding flock.