This marine species occurs in the cool waters of the subantarctic zone. It is generally found over the edge of the continental shelf and is apparently only pelagic during dispersal. Its diet comprises mainly of immature barnacles and other crustaceans, but also small squid and occasionally small fish. It catches prey mostly by pattering over the surface whilst in flight, but also by dipping and shallow plunging. It has been seen to attend trawlers and occasionally follows ships. Its breeding season starts in October or November, with individuals forming loose colonies on oceanic islands, creating burrows in vegetation or nesting in crevices in rocks (del Hoyo et al. 1992).

The Grey-backed Storm-petrel has a circumpolar distribution in the subantarctic, breeding on islands from the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) in the south-west Atlantic east to the Chatham Islands (New Zealand). Individuals can winter nearer to the continents, when they are found off the extreme southern coast of Argentina, and south-east Australia and Tasmania (del Hoyo et al. 1992).