This marine species is highly pelagic and has a widespread, but sparse, distribution at sea. It feeds mostly on squid, with some fish and crustaceans, most of which it obtains by dipping and surface-seizing. It feeds mainly at night and may locate some cephalopods by their bioluminescence. It can occasionally be seen following cetaceans and will associate with other Procellariiformes. Breeding occurs in the winter of the southern hemisphere, starting in April. It nests either solitary or in small colonies on oceanic islands on ridges, slopes or flat ground. Breeding usually occurs below 400 m, but has been recorded as high as 1,400 m on Tristan da Cunha. It nests in burrows or above ground in rock crevices, among tree roots or under scrub (del Hoyo et al. 1992).

Pterodroma macroptera breeds in the Southern Hemisphere between 30 and 50 degrees south with colonies on Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island (St Helena to UK), the Crozet Islands and Kerguelen Islands (French Southern Territories), the Prince Edward Islands (South Africa), and on the coasts of southern Australia. Outside the breeding season, it disperses widely in subtropical parts of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, mainly between 25 and 50 degrees south, although some birds stray into the Antarctic zone (del Hoyo et al. 1992).