[6] In 1760, the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Caribbean dove in his six volume Ornithologie.

He used the French name Le pigeon de la Jamaïque and the Latin Columba jamaicensis.

[7] Although Brisson coined Latin names for species, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.

[8] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he included the Caribbean dove and placed it with the other pigeons in the genus Columba.

The adult male of the nominate subspecies has a white forehead, face, and throat; a gray hindcrown; and an iridescent purple nape.

The mantle and the sides of the neck are rosy red with an iridescent green and/or purple gloss.

The Caribbean dove's song is "a rather rhythmic series of four mournful monotonous notes, with emphasis on the last one 'wo-o-o-oooooo'.