He throws his head back sharply until it touches his back and then brings it forward slowly while emitting a rolling frog-like croak. Other ritual displays include wing flapping and stretching, shaking, or pumping the head. The female may bob or pump her head in response to the male's overtures. She solicits copulation by stretching her neck and head out just above the water and laying her tail flat on the water surface. Copulation occurs on the water and is preceded and followed by more highly choreographed displays by the male.
Pair bonds dissolve once the female begins incubation.
Although woodpecker cavities in both live and dead trees in close proximity to water are their preferred nesting sites, active cavity nests have been found as far as 27 meters off the ground and 0.5 km from the nearest water. The female does not bring any additional nesting material to the cavity, but she will rearrange material already on site and complete the nest by plucking down from the brood patch on her belly. Within 24 hours of the last egg's hatching the mother surveys the surroundings for predators then calls her brood from the nest. They use sharp claws to clamber up the sides of the nest cavity to the entrance then make the long drop to the forest floor. The family must then make its way overland to the safety of water.