Robert Swinhoe described this species as a true jungle bird. Its habitat was described as dense forest, or thick and dense forest, by various naturalists in the past. Nowadays most people catch sight of this pheasant along logging roads or mountain trails, which could be opened, or lined by vegetation of various heights and densities.

    Originally Swinhoe’s Pheasants were found from almost sea level up to 2500m in elevation. The main concentration of this species was in the Central Mountain Range. Swinhoe’s Pheasants appeared mostly in primary broadleaf forest, in areas where the canopy was closed, the undergrowth sparce, and the slopes gentle. Such places could be park-like where sun light filters through the canopy producing shifting dark and light patterns on the leaf litter on the forest floor. They also used mature secondary broadleaf forest where the canopy was partially open with moderate undergrowth. Some birds were also seen in mixed forest or mixed bamboo forest with dense ground cover.

    At the present, much of the suitable lowland habitat in Taiwan has disappeared. Very little of this region remain undisturbed by human activities. Except in a few protected areas, most of the recent sightings of Swinhoe’s Pheasants are in deeper mountains above 1000 m. Between 1000-2000 m, large tracks of the original forest have already been converted to plantations, changed to other uses, or otherwise fragmented. Loss of habitat continues to pose the major threat to the future of Swinhoe’s pheasant.