The Grenada dove is characterised by a white throat; face and forehead pale pink shading to dull brown on crown and nape; upperparts olive brown; underwing chestnut; neck and upper breast pink-buff fading to white on lower breast, belly and undertail coverts.

First described in 1884 by Lawrence as a member of the genus Engyptila,[2] it was established as a distinct species using sonographic analysis by Blockstein and Hardy (1988).

[6] Historically, it has been recorded from locations throughout Grenada, including offshore islands,[7] and the type specimen was collected from Fontenoy, on the west coast.

[8] True dry forest ecosystems are remnants of a type of xeric scrub habitat that dominated the West Indies at the end of the Pleistocene,[9][10] and most areas classified as dry forest in the Caribbean are mosaics of degraded habitat, and do not represent natural ecosystems (Murphy and Lugo 1986, Vidal and Casado 2000).

This is readily apparent at the Mount Hartman sanctuary, which is an old government cattle farm with vegetation composed primarily of exotic species such as Leucaena leucocephala and Heamatoxylon.

Rivera Lugo has suggested that past disturbance may have created new artificial vegetative cover types that are difficult to classify as natural forest communities.

[11] Beard considered the thorn woodland seasonal formation to be a highly degraded habitat created by heavy grazing and intensive agricultural practices.

[8][9]The most recent distribution census included individuals from the Beausejour, Perseverance, Woodford, and Black Bay watersheds.

An emergency landfill, which has been established to accommodate the large volume of debris created by Hurricane Ivan in early September 2004, is encroaching on the Perseverance sanctuary.

[8][16] Grenada doves in the Mount Hartman area have been observed fighting (Blockstein 1988), and other Leptotila species show varying degrees of territorial behaviour (Goodwin 1983).

Juveniles also have been found on the ground and photographed by Grenada's Forestry and National Parks Department (FNDP) staff; no nest was documented for this encounter.

Population estimates by various researchers indicate that there may be fewer than 100 individuals remaining in the wild (Blockstein 1988),[8] and declines in numbers may have occurred between 1987 and 1991.

Results of point count surveys conducted during research associated with the Grenada Dry Forest Ecosystem Protection Project indicate very low numbers of the dove immediately following Hurricane Ivan.

[1] The Grenada Government – in cooperation with the World Bank – set up two reserve zones in 1996 to preserve the dove: the Perseverance and adjacent Woodford Estates, which are adjacent to a landfill and abandoned quarry site, in the west of the island and a sanctuary of c.150 acres (0.61 km2) within the Mount Hartman Estate, a former government cattle farm and sugarcane plantation, in the south.

[13] According to some studies, the Mount Hartman Sanctuary was never considered adequate for the dove's survival[17] and other understudied populations are located along the western coast in the Beausejour and Black Bay watersheds.

[1] As early as 1947, Bond indicated that one of the primary causes of rarity and extinction for avifauna in the West Indies was habitat destruction by human activities.

In late 2006, information was released stating that the Government intended to sell a portion of Mount Hartman Estate to a private promoter for development as a tourist resort under the probable management of Four Seasons Hotels.