The scientific name commemorates Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte and the American ornithologist and artist Andrew Jackson Grayson.

The most conspicuous differences from the mourning dove, darker coloration and more well-developed feet, were useful amid the dark lava rock and the shady forests of its island home, where native mammalian predators were absent but constant threats from red-tailed hawks and great frigatebirds were present.

[citation needed] The arid and fairly barren Clarión Island, some 400 km (250 mi) west of Socorro, has an endemic subspecies of the mourning dove, Zenaida macroura clarionensis.

It is highly likely that they represent a later colonization by mourning doves (rather than earlier stock), which evolved its phenotype independently from but in parallel with the Socorro birds.

On a semidesert island such as Clarión, birds would be expected to evolve towards lighter plumage, to better withstand the heat and lack of reliable freshwater sources, in accordance with Gloger's Rule.

This too is believed to be in adaptation to the former dominance of aerial predators, lest local concentrations of birds, let alone young, inexperienced ones, would present easy targets for the hawks.

Typical of many birds on islands lacking mammals, Socorro doves also show little fear of humans or introduced predators, including cats, which proved a major factor in its extirpation.

It may be that this coincided with the peak of the breeding season, when many birds had dependent young and dispersed widely to gather more varied food.

At least at the time of the last record, it seemed to be dependent on intact understorey of Euphorbiaceae (spurges and relatives)[7] and ferns, maybe because cats hunt less efficiently in the dense foliage.

[1] Parallels in altitudinal migration with the equally solitary mockingbird might be taken as indication that the breeding activity peaked around March through April.

The evidence found by Jehl and Parkes suggested that feral cats had been introduced at the time that the military base was established, which was ultimately the cause of the species’ extinction.

[14] In 2013, the breeding program was successfully introduced into Mexico by the EAZA in collaboration with various government agencies such as the SEMAR, SEMARNAT, and the Mexican Navy.

[1] In 2006, there was an outbreak of avian influenza in Europe, and therefore 12 doves were sent to Albuquerque Biological Park to create a separate reserve population.

[17] The original plan was to reintroduce the birds into Mexico in 2008, but was delayed due to import restrictions and permits, so a stock of viable individuals was kept in the US.