The underparts of the female are whitish and more distinctly barred black than in the male.

This little-known bird is protected only by the remoteness of its habitat, a mostly inaccessible area at altitudes of 3,000–4,200 m (9,800–13,800 ft).

[1] The female usually lays up to three, pale brown, dark-spotted eggs in a hollow nest under the edge of a grass tussock.

The diet consists mainly of seeds, flowers, leaves, and other vegetable matter.

Due to its limited range, parts of which are getting increasingly accessible, the Snow Mountain quail is evaluated as "near threatened" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.