A closer view reveals an iridescent mantle of gleaming scales reminiscent in colour and pattern to those seen in the ocellated turkey and green peafowl.

Specialized plumes framing the throat of the male green junglefowl are highly light-reflective and appear violet at the proximal and sky blue at the distal edges.

A region of electric yellow facial skin extends below each ear, delineating the plumed hackles from gular lappet.

The green junglefowl usually lives in groups of two to five in the wild led by a dominant male, who takes the flock to feed and drink and then back into the cover of the forest.

The green junglefowl is being maintained and increasingly bred in captivity as its genetic diversity is disappearing.

[2] The captive green junglefowl requires warm aviaries with much foliage and cover due to their shy nature, and are fed with grains and seeds, as well as fruit and insects; these are the same type of food they would feed on in the wild.

The English naturalist and biologist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) wanted to understand if they were hybrids or species, as part of his research on the origin of the domestic chicken.