[1] This species was first described in 1935 by the American naturalist George Latimer Bates and the Scottish zoologist Norman Boyd Kinnear, the scientific name being proposed by their occasional co-worker, the British Arabist St John Philby, in honour of his wife Dora.

The male has a brownish or pale grey head with a bright red patch on the crown and nape.

[1] It is found in a range of woodland habitats including, at lower altitudes, patches of Ficus, date palm and Pandanus.

[2] D. dorae is an uncommon bird, and the total number of mature individuals is estimated to be less than ten thousand.

The population trend is probably downward as the bird's habitat is being degraded by the removal of trees for firewood and charcoal manufacture, and the clearance of wooded land for agriculture.