It formerly bred on Raoul Island, but has now been extirpated from this locality due to predation by rats and cats.

It has a black cap, white rear neck, dark grey back, wings and tail, and a darker rump.

This is a solitary pelagic gadfly petrel of the open seas of the south-west Pacific.

It has an effortless graceful flight with few wing beats, and does not follow ships.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland (for breeding) and open seas (for foraging).