It is a relatively small, short-tailed pheasant that is widespread in the lower Himalayas ranging across North and East India, Nepal, Bhutan, South China and northern Myanmar.

[3] Both males and females have red feet and a distinct ring of bare skin around the eye that typically is crimson colored, but is orange in a few subspecies.

They mainly vary in the plumage of the males, especially the amount of red or black to the throat, forehead, neck, chest and tail, and the presence or absence of rufous in the wings.

[4] Twelve subspecies have been described:[5] Blood pheasants live in the mountains of Nepal, Sikkim, northern Myanmar, Tibet, and central and south-central China, where they prefer coniferous or mixed forests and scrub areas near the snowline.

[9] The blood pheasant's distribution in inhospitable high-elevation environments has required adaptation to hypoxia and high levels of ultraviolet radiation.

[10] Much of the distribution range of pheasants in Southwest China overlaps with the habitat of the giant panda, and livestock grazing has become the most prevalent human disturbance across associated protection areas.