It is native to Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania where its natural habitat is tropical dry forests in the Eastern miombo woodlands ecoregion.

[3] The species is endemic to southeastern Africa, its range including southern Tanzania, southwestern Malawi and northern Mozambique.

[3] Stierling's woodpecker forages for insects, centipedes and other invertebrates in the middle and upper parts of the canopy.

Breeding is thought to take place between July and October, the nest being made in a hole in a tree.

The miombo woodland in which it lives is increasingly being cleared for firewood, especially in areas of tobacco cultivation, where open fires are used for drying the crop.