In New Zealand the Sooty Shearwater is the local 'muttonbird', and other harvested petrel species, such as the Wedge-tailed Shearwater, may be known as muttonbirds elsewhere.

The species also uses the burrows and pathways of petrel species that nest on the islands.

It differs from the more common petrel species found in New Zealand, Wilson's Storm Petrel (O. oceanicus), by its pale bar on the upper wing, white belly with streaking, narrow white panel on the underwings, longer legs, and dark webs to the feet.

The Henderson petrel is the most threatened of the four petrel species which nest on the island, as it is found nowhere else in the world, but all four have seen populations plummet as a result of the rats.

Studies in other petrel species such as Manx Shearwater, Wandering Albatross, and Cory's Shearwater, have shown that birds return to the site in which they fledged.

The name Mother Carey's Chicken was used in early literature and often applied to several petrel species while the generic name of stormy petrel referred to the idea that their appearance foretold stormy weather.

A number of other petrel species undertake trans-equatorial migrations, including the Wilson's Storm Petrel and the Providence Petrel, but no albatrosses cross the equator, as they rely on wind assisted flight.

One study stated that introduced feral cats have been responsible for the extinction of 10 petrel species in the 20th century alone.

Currently ACAP protects all the World's albatross species and seven southern-hemisphere petrel species.