Buller’s shearwaters breed only on the Poor Knights Islands, a protected, predator free, nature reserve off the eastern coast of Northland.
During April to late May, Buller’s shearwaters depart for the north Pacific, from Japan to the western coast of North America. Birds return to the Poor Knights in mid–September to court and clean out their burrows. However, egg laying does not start until October.
Their population is in excess of 2,000,000 birds and resting rafts of sometimes thousands of birds may be seen off the east coast of New Zealand in summer.
