This pheasant is notable for its long crest and red bare facial skin. It lives on rocky western Himalayan slopes and lays its eggs in undergrowth during the breeding season.
Both sexes have gray-and-brown plumage, a long crest, and red bare facial skin. The male has a pale upper neck and dark bars on its long tail; the female is smaller and has a shorter tail.
Cheer Pheasants use grassy and shrubby Himalayan slopes. They dig for roots and tubers and also eat seeds, berries and insects. They inhabit rocky terrain with scattered trees, foraging on the ground among low vegetation.
A 2020 paper investigated wild Cheer Pheasant habitat in Myagdi, western Nepal, during October 2016–June 2017. Researchers surveyed calls at 25 stations and measured trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants at sites with and without calls.
Calls were recorded at seventeen stations. Estimated bird numbers were positively associated with herbaceous-plant density and negatively associated with tree density. Locally, birds used slopes with scattered trees and abundant low vegetation.
IUCN Red List · Vulnerable · Global
The IUCN global assessment of 19 July 2022 lists the species as Vulnerable, with a decreasing population. Hunting, livestock grazing pressure and habitat loss from changing land use are threats, including conversion of grassland to cropland or plantations. It recommends investigating both beneficial and harmful effects of burning and grazing at occupied sites.