In places where self-supporting feral populations have become established, such as England, the two species will interbreed to produce hybrids.

Despite the male's showy appearance, these birds are very difficult to see in their natural habitat, which is dense, dark, young conifer forests with sparse undergrowth.

They feed on the ground on grain, leaves and invertebrates, but roost in trees at night.

Whilst they can fly, they prefer to run: but if startled they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed, with a distinctive wing sound.

The genus Chrysolophus was introduced in a figure caption by the English zoologist John Edward Gray in 1834 for a single species, the golden pheasant (Phasianus pictus Linnaeus, 1758) which is therefore considered as the type species.