Peruvian Diving-Petrel is endemic to the Peruvian and Chilean coasts of South America; throughout most of its range it is the only diving-petrel, but in Chile it narrowly overlaps with Magellanic Diving-Petrel (Pelecanoides magellani). Unlike most shearwaters and petrels, which are very aerial and spend much of their time in flight, diving-petrels seem to fly rarely, and then only very low over the water. Diving-Petrels instead spend most of their time swimming on the surface, diving below the water - to as deep as 50 m - to capture prey, such as small fish and crustaceans. Peruvian Diving-Petrel breeds colonially on offshore islands with, currently, over 80% of its population breeding on San Gallán Island, off the south Peruvian coast. Peruvian Diving-Petrel formerly was abundant, but its numbers have declined drastically, and it now is considered to be Endangered.