[2] The golden pheasant was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Phasianus pictus.

She is much less showy than the male, with a duller mottled brown plumage similar to that of the female common pheasant, but is darker and more slender.

[7] The golden pheasant is native to forests in mountainous areas of western China, but feral populations have been established in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

The original birds were released in The Nature Conservancy's Waikamoi Preserve, where the founder population has showed evidence of reproductive behavior.

Secondary groups were later recorded in Hanawï Natural Area Reserve and Haleakalä National Park, where they most probably arrived through dispersal from Waikamoi.

During winter, flocks tend to forage close to human settlements at the edge of forest, taking primarily wheat leaves and seeds.

This type of flying is commonly known as "flapping flight" and is due to a lack of a deep layer of M. pectoralis pars thoracicus and the tendon that attaches to it.

[7] There are also different mutations of the golden pheasant known from birds in captivity, including the dark-throated, yellow, cinnamon, salmon, peach, splash, mahogany and silver.

results show that heterozygosity of the most polymorphic major histocompatibility complex locus was highly related with the chroma and brightness of the feathers.