The great shearwater was formally described in 1818 by the Irish naturalist Bernard O'Reilly and given the binomial name Procellaria gravis.

[4][5] The genus name Ardenna was used to refer to a seabird by Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603.

It can be quite common off the southwestern coasts of Great Britain and Ireland before heading back south again, this time down the eastern littoral of the Atlantic.

This shearwater nests in large colonies, laying one white egg in a small burrow or in the open grass.

Great shearwaters are among the seabird species with the highest incidence of plastic ingestion.