The name commemorates Armand Barau, an agricultural engineer and ornithologist from the French territory of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

Its bill is black and its upper parts are dark, with a moderately distinct "M" pattern across the wings and back.

The petrels are highly pelagic at sea, preying on small fish (10 cm) by surface-seizing and plunge diving.

Their colonies are unusual in being far inland and at high elevations; they dig burrows under the forest at around 2,400-2,700m above sea level.

Young birds, particularly fledglings, are disorientated by artificial lights such as streetlights or the floodlights of sporting venues, which they mistake for bioluminescent squid, and lead them to fail reach the sea.