[2] Some taxonomic authorities, including the American Ornithological Society, continue to place this species in the genus Picoides.

Male Strickland's woodpeckers also have a red patch on the nape of their head which is lacking on females.

The female lays three to four white eggs on a bed of wood chips, but other details of nesting periods and duration are mostly unknown.

A quiet and shy bird, Strickland's woodpeckers are fairly common in their limited range, usually found in pine forests and mixed pine-oak slopes at heights of about 4,500 to 7,000 feet.

The Strickland's woodpecker's range generally follows a thin east–west band in central Mexico from Michoacán to Veracruz.