There are six sub–species of the white–faced storm petrel, three of which have been recorded in New Zealand; dulciae, breeding around southern Australia, maoriana, breeding around the mainland of New Zealand and the Chatham and Auckland Islands, and the rare albiclunus, breeding in the Kermadecs.
The biggest colony is on Rangatira Island in the Chathams group, where there were estimated to be 840,000 breeding pairs in 1994. The chicks fledge between mid-February and early April. They set off for the tropical east Pacific, and can be seen off the coast of Equador and the Galapagos Islands from July to September. They return to New Zealand to breed about late September.
There are widespread colonies of white–faced storm petrels in subantarctic to subtropical parts of the Atlantic, Indian and Southwestern Pacific Oceans.
Widespread throughout its large range, the White-faced Storm-petrel is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
