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  1. Species
  2. ›
  3. Procellariidae
  4. ›
  5. Pterodroma
  6. ›
  7. Black-winged Petrel
Black-winged Petrel
Photo · (c) ian_mcallan, some rights reserved (CC BY)

BirdUp · Species

Black-winged Petrel

Pterodroma nigripennis(Rothschild, 1893)

Updated 21 March 2026

Origin: Native
Order
PROCELLARIIFORMES
Family
Procellariidae
Genus
Pterodroma

At a glance

The Black-winged Petrel, native to Australia. It can be seen year-round.

Origin
Native
Best seen
Year-round
Commonness
Common
  • Identification
  • Where
  • When
  • Behaviour
  • Gallery

01 · Identification

How to tell it apart

The black-winged petrel is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. It breeds on a number of oceanic islands in the tropical and subtropical East Pacific Ocean and spends the rest of the year at sea.

Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

03 · When

When to look

When can you see a Black-winged Petrel?

The Black-winged Petrel is present across its Australian range year-round, so it can be seen in any month.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

05 · Behaviour

Habits and haunts

06 · Gallery

Plumage up close

2 photos

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02 · Where

Where to find it

Where does the Black-winged Petrel live in Australia?

The Black-winged Petrel is native to Australia, recorded across 6 of Australia’s bioregions.

BreedingRound I. (north-east of Mauritius, central Mascarenes, south-west Indian Ocean); Lord Howe and Norfolk is. (far east of Australia), Grande Terre (New Caledonia), north and east North I. and Kermadec Is. (north-east of North I.) and Chatham Is. (east of South I.; New Zealand), Tonga and Cook Is. (central Polynesia), Bass Rock (=Marotiri, south-east Austral Is., east Polynesia), and Rapa (east Tubuai=Austral Is., south-east Polynesia)

Non-breedingTo waters off south-east Australia and Pacific Ocean south-east of Japan east to north-west Mexico and Central America, Galápagos and Peru

Distribution from BirdUp Australia community data

Legend

  • Breeding
  • Vagrant
  • Non-breeding

5 regions recorded