Bulwer's petrel was formally described in 1828 by the naturalists Jardine and Selby who coined the binomial name Procellaria bulwerii.

The specific epithet was chosen to acknowledge the artist and naturalist James Bulwer who had collected the type specimen on the island of Madeira.

[2] Bulwer's petrel is now placed in the genus Bulweria that was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte.

Its diet mainly consists of small fish (such as sardines) and squid, with some additional crustaceans (such as crabs, krill, and shrimp) and plankton.

[6] In the North East Atlantic, the species is predated by cats, house rats and endemic invertebrates.

In one colony on Madeira, predation of Shearwater chicks by Madeiran wall lizards has been recorded in up to 10% of nests, though it is highly unlikely to have an impact on the species on a population level.