Dark reddish woodpecker with a gleaming yellow bill and gray-brown head and underparts. Female averages paler-headed than the male. Forages low, often on or near the ground in lowland, hill, and montane forests with a dense understory; often on fallen trunks. Gives rather thin “tsik!” notes, sometimes singly, sometimes strung out into longer series. Joins mixed-species foraging flocks.