It has a highly iridescent purplish-green upperparts plumage, short and curly metallic green crown feathers, copper neck, purplish-black throat, white back, blue orbital skin, yellowish-orange bill and brown iris.

[5] The crestless female is mostly a dark brown bird with a white throat and tail-tip, dull bluish orbital skin and a pale yellow bill.

Sclater's monal is distributed to mountain forests of the east Himalayan region, in north-eastern India, south-eastern Tibet and northern Burma, at altitudes of 2,500 to 4,200 metres (8,200 to 13,800 ft).

The diet of the Sclater's monal, like that of other members of the genus Lophophorus, probably consists mainly of tubers, roots, bulbs, arthropods, rodents, seeds and flowers.

Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size, limited range and overhunting in some areas for food and its feathers, Sclater's monal is evaluated as Vulnerable on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.