In 1743, the English naturalist George Edwards included a picture and a description of the common emerald dove in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds.

[2] When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the common emerald dove with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba.

Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Columba indica and cited Edwards's work.

[3] The specific epithet indica is Latin for "Indian" and is used by Linnaeus to denote the East Indies.

[5][6] Six subspecies are recognised:[6] The common emerald dove is a stocky, medium-sized pigeon, typically 23–27 cm (9.1–10.6 in) in length.

This is a common species in tropical forests and similar dense wet woodlands, farms and mangroves.

Their flight is fast and direct, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general.