[3][4] The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) recognize two subspecies, the nominate L. p. plumbiceps and L. p. notia.

The adult male of the nominate subspecies has a pale bluish gray forehead and a slightly darker crown, nape, upper mantle, and sides of the neck.

The central tail feathers are dark olive brown and the outer three are black with white tips.

The adult female is very similar, with the addition of a wash of grayish fawn on the breast.

[1][4] The grey-headed dove inhabits the interior and edges of humid forest, both primary and secondary.

The grey-headed dove's song is "a single mournful monotonous note 'wooOOOoo' which fades in and out.