The yellow-crowned woodpecker was originally described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Picus mahrattensis.

[2] It is now the only species placed in the genus Leiopicus that was introduced by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854.

[3] The specific epithet mahrattensis is from Marhatta, a historical region in the modern Indian state of Maharashtra.

[5] A medium-small (17.5 cm, 6.9 inches, 28-46 grams, 1–1.6 ounces), pale-headed, pied woodpecker.

Underparts dark, streaked dingy white with red belly patch.