Order
Columbiformes
Family
Columbidae
Genus
Zenaida
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

 - Socorro Dove
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Socorro Dove Zenaida graysoni

Lauren Heck
Version: 1.0 — Published July 25, 2014

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Introduction

Also known as the Grayson's Dove, this species was last seen in the wild in the late 1950s. It formerly was endemic to the island of Socorro, the largest of the Revillagigedo Islands, off the coast of western Mexico, but now survives only in captivity, with birds held in the United States, in Europe, and now also in Mexico. There are active plans to reintroduce this dove back to Socorro, hopefully in the relatively near future once feral introducted mammals and locusts have been eradicated. Socorro Dove is a terrestrial species, which feeds on seeds and small fruits, and prefers to walk rather than to fly, a factor that may have hastened its decline following the arrival on the island of human settlers and their cats in the 1950s. The species apparently performed regular altitudinal movements, being abundant in the island’s highlands between June and November, but at other times being much commoner in the lowlands. Daily movements were also postulated. The species’ alternative name honors the so-called 'Audubon of the West', the American collector and bird artist, Andrew Jackson Grayson.

Distribution of the Socorro Dove - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Socorro Dove

Recommended Citation

Heck, L. (2014). Socorro Dove (Zenaida graysoni), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.socdov1.01