Although only slightly smaller than the great spotted woodpecker, it appears smaller due to its short, slender bill and more rounded, pale head. 

Behaviourally it likes to feed high in the trees, moving constantly and making a good view difficult. In the breeding season it excavates a nest hole about 5 cm wide in a decaying tree trunk or thick branch. It lays four to seven eggs and incubates for 11–14 days.

It is rarely heard drumming, and never for territorial purposes, which it asserts by song; a slow,nasal gvayk gvayk gvayk gvayk gvayk. Calls include a fast kik kekekekek.