Socorro Dove

The socorro dove is a type of dove that was endemic to Socorro Island, an island part of a group of islands called the Mexican Galapagos. However, Socorro dove has been extinct in the wild since 1972. In the 1920s, with the Socorro dove’s numbers declining, 17 doves were taken to zoos to preserve the species. Now there are only about 100 in captivity. They survived in the zoos, but became extinct in the wild. Socorro doves are about an average size for doves, but they have longer legs than most doves. They are often mistaken for mourning doves because of their similar coloring, though females tend to be a little duller.

The main reason Socorro doves are endangered is introduced animals. A main reason they went extinct was because their eggs were preyed upon and destroyed by feral cats and mice. The birds themselves were eaten and killed by feral cats and larger birds, causing the doves to stop congregating in large groups. These feral cats also forced the doves to stay in forests, instead of the lowlands that they used to live in. Sheep were an especially big problem because they went around eating and decimating the dove’s habitat. Now that they are extinct in the wild, the only animals left are the 100 birds in the captive breeding program. Now scientists are working to bring the Socorro dove back to it’s home.