NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Socorro Dove
Zenaida graysoni (Lawrence, 1871)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Socorro dove or Grayson's dove (Zenaida graysoni) is a dove species which is extinct in the wild. It was endemic to Socorro Island in the Revillagigedo Islands off the west coast of Mexico. The last sighting in its natural habitat was in 1972 and it survives only in captivity. A reintroduction program is being prepared.
It is a close relative of the mourning and eared doves, particularly the former, and was at one time considered a subspecies. In captivity, it hybridizes with the former and almost all privately owned birds as well as several of the captive breeding program birds are known or strongly suspected to be hybrids. These are excluded from the reintroduction program as there is evidence of unique adaptations in the Socorro species. The scientific name commemorates Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte and the American ornithologist and artist Andrew Jackson Grayson.
Wikipedia contributors, Socorro dove; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:55:26.012609+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Zenaida graysoni (Lawrence, 1871)
- Name authority
- (Lawrence, 1871)
- Common name
- Socorro Dove
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Zenaida
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderColumbiformes
- familyColumbidae
- subfamilyColumbinae
- genusZenaida Bonaparte, 1838
- speciesZenaida graysoni (Lawrence, 1871)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Zenaida. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Zenaida DoveZenaida aurita (Temminck, 1809) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Galapagos DoveZenaida galapagoensis Gould, 1841 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mourning DoveZenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| West Peruvian DoveZenaida meloda (Tschudi, 1843) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-winged DoveZenaida asiatica (Linnaeus, 1758) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Eared DoveZenaida auriculata (des Murs, 1847) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=563771 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5D2BY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.