The photolithograph (print) "Autumn Treat" features a Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata) feeding on poison ivy fruit in October. I made the original drawing in north-central Indiana. The migrating warblers gathered our poison ivy fruit one day and planted it the next in south-central Indiana.
The eastern (and northern) subspecies is called the "Myrtle Warbler." The western subspecies is called "Audubon's Warbler."
The field guides are full of examples of speciation in action. Speciation is Nature's process of creating new species. Populations of a species become geographically isolated, and if they remain separated for enough generations, they will eventually be genetically isolated. Once that occurs, they are separate species. Other examples include the Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted Flicker in eastern North America and Red-Shafted Flicker in the western states) and, among common mammals, the mule deer (the Rocky Mountain Mule Deer in the Rockies and the Black-tailed Deer in the Pacific Northwest).
Whenever you encounter an animal species that includes recognized "subspecies" (or a plant species with recognized "varieties"), then you know that biological diversity, in these particular cases, is potentially increasing.
This limited edition of prints (200) is nearly sold out. Each print measures 8"x 10" . The price in $40.
"Autumn Treat", photolithograph of a myrtle warbler. © Fred Montague
