Derivation
Pter-o'-drom'-a - Gk, pteron, wing; Gk, dromos, race, running: cookii - in honor of Captain Cook
Habitat
Marine, pelagic, sub-tropical and, rarely, sub-Antarctic waters of the Pacific Ocean, migrating to the northern Pacific in the non-breeding season.
American Samoa (NB), Chile (NB), Cook Islands (NB), Eastern Central Pacific (NB), French Polynesia (NB), Mexico (NB), New Zealand (B), Niue (NB), Norfolk Island (NB), Northeast Pacific (NB), Northwest Pacific (NB), Peru, Pitcairn Islands (NB), Southeast Pacific (NB), Southwest Pacific (B) (NB), United States Minor Outlying Islands (NB), USA (NB), Wallis and Futuna Islands (NB), Western Central Pacific (NB).
Vagrant to Australia, Kiribati.
New Zealand area, breeding on Great and Little Barrier Is off North I, and Codfish I off Stewart I (to south of New Zealand).
 
Population
Estimated population is 1,258,000 (2010) and decreasing.
Cook's Petrel (Pterodroma cookii) [XC776936]
by id from near Matakana, Auckland, New Zealand (nocturnal flight call)
Cook's Petrel (Pterodroma cookii) [XC293339]
by Nathan El from Hauraki Gulf, Auckland, New Zealand (call)
Nest
An enlarged chamber at the end of a burrow, lined with leaves and twigs. In large colonies on Little Barrier Island and in pairs, perhaps early colonies, on Great Barrier Island.
Eggs (Guide)
1; smooth, not glossy, white; oval; about 52 x 39 mm. Incubation: 47 - 51 days; by both sexes.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 88 days. Fed by both parents by incomplete regurgitation.
Subspecies
Interbreeds with Masatierra Petrel (Pterodroma defilippiana), 1000000860* and 1000000269* to form superspecies.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9