Imperator Imperator is found in dense forests of Vietnam. It is similar to muticus malacense in some respects. Its neck is a bluish ocean-green and its irises are paler than siamensis. The facial skin is a more yellowish colour, less intense than siamensis. Nowadays it is a very rare form to come by. The train can appear purple-rose in some lighting.
In Ho Chi Minh's Garden in Hanoi, there is a lone male nominate Imperator.
Also the birds from Ueno Zoo:
The facial skin of these birds is less intense due to they aren't fed the perfect diet. Note the ID from these birds is not reliable because they have been bred for several generations and may turn out to be composite.
Delacours generalization that Imperator has less brilliant plumage than muticus muticus is clearly not justified by these images. This latter bird has a similar crest to muticus muticus but as Resolution pointed out it's a nominate imperator. Note the electric green hue we see here and in the displaying bird at Ueno Zoo.
Wild-caught imperator:
Note the striking colours of the female not unlike female muticus-muticus.
Vietnam itself is a diverse area for subspecies of Imperator:
Tonkin Imperator of the Black and Red River races being found in Northern Vietnam and Laos along submontane regions. Especially the black river populations are threatened and probably extinct already in the wild. Elton Housely has some Black River Peafowl in captivity but few other people realize the value of these birds which are sometimes passed off as hybrids.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/feathers429/works/5894137-green-peafowl (ID questionable, may turn out to be Peridot, ie. high percentage Green with some cristatus blood)
Cat Tien imperator is found in the central highlands region of Vietnam
http://spicifere.pagesperso-orange.fr/Mes spiciferes/imperator.htm
The hind wing is brown and barred. Imperator is intermediate between Cattiensis and Siamensis and its barring is fringed off due to the iridescence on the wing. It appears the head is a bit more blue than other imperators, a bit like annamensis but the irises are dark like imperator siamensis.
With regard to the conservation of Imperator, siamensis is certainly the least threatened of all due to its distribution in Thailand and thanks to people like Fritz. There is integration with Annamensis, but I would say this be allowed for because this is natural but this does not mean people can breed them like that in captivity. Cattiensis also enjoys the protection of areas like Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam. However, the nominate Imperator appears to be much rarer and seems to be more scattered in distribution. Tonkin Imperator is certainly the most critically endangered of these subspecies and is on the brink of extinction. Yunnan Kunming Imperator is newly described but due to the hybridization of Peafowl species.
The last three pictures that Dani posted are interesting. The female in the first picture looks like an Annamensis and perhaps the second picture is an annamensis-siamensis integrade. The male does not look like siamensis but probably annamensis or muticus muticus. Not sure where the last picture was taken but it does resemble javanensis in some ways but not golden and is much bluer than typical siamensis.
