This seabird is endemic to the Galápagos and often occurs near shore. A 1965 field study, using the then-current name Audubon's Shearwater subspecies subalaris, recorded it feeding around shoals of fish.
This small shearwater has a sharply defined dark-and-white border along the face and sides of the neck, narrow whitish spectacles, and dark undertail coverts.
A 1965 Galápagos study recorded birds gathering around coastal shoals of small fish, flying into the wind, landing on the water, and lunging beneath the surface for prey. Nests were found on lava cliffs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.