It lives in mountains of Tibet, southwestern China, and northeastern India. Adult males and females can be told apart by bill color.
The upper part of an adult male’s bill is red; in an adult female it is black.
It inhabits coniferous and mixed forests, rhododendron undergrowth, and cultivated landscapes at 1,250–4,000 m.
It mainly eats tree seeds and berries, but also forages in grain fields and orchards. It nests in tree cavities.
Adult males and females also differ in plumage, while young birds are less colorful than adults.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.