Lady Amherst first introduced the ornamental pheasant on her estates, near the Duke of Bedford's Woburn Abbey, where the birds were also shot for game and interbred.

[4] Although the introduced British populations are believed to have been extinct since 2015, occasional sightings of the species have occurred in subsequent years; a Lady Amherst's pheasant was photographed in Staplegrove, Taunton in May 2020, and subsequently, in early March 2021, a Lady Amherst's pheasant was spotted in a garden in Scotland.

This species is closely related to the golden pheasant (C. pictus), but slightly larger and has a yellow eye, blue-green bare skin around it.

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

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