A rare exotic bird paid a visit to an Ambleside B&B.

A red golden pheasant was spotted by guests staying at the Old Vicarage on Vicarage Road yesterday morning (May 20).

The bird is the most popular of all pheasants to be kept in captivity however they are extremely hardy and can survive in extreme environments both hot and cold.

READ MORE: Bardsea Bird Sanctuary saves abandoned sparrow chicks

Golden Pheasants were introduced to Britain in the 1700s however are native to the mountainous forests of Western and Central China.

Its preferred habitat is a dense forest or woodlands with sparse undergrowth during the day and high trees during the night.

This particular bird with its colourful plumage is believed to be a male as its female counterpart is paler brown. 

 Despite a declining population, golden pheasants are still listed as Least concern.

Although a naturalised introduced species, they're still quite a rare sight - especially in Cumbria.

Owner of the Old Vicarage, Ian Burt, said: "One of our guests spotted it out our conservatory window - very difficult to miss!

"It was incredibly tame. Even seem to think about hopping through our front doors for a bit.

"As we’re a pet friendly B&B - we’ve had a few exotic pets stay over the years, so we were trying to work out if I belonged to a guest for a short time.

"No one else in the town has seemed to have any knowledge of it. There’s usually fuss made of such things in local groups but we can’t see anything else.

"Hopefully it will choose to visit us again soon."