The range of the fork-tailed storm petrel is estimated to cover 22,400,000 km² with over 6,000,000 individuals occurring globally, making it the second-most widespread and abundant storm petrel.
 During the breeding season, the fork-tailed storm petrel form dense colonies on islands throughout northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alaska, and northeast Asia off the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Most of their population is concentrated in Alaska, notably in the Bering Sea near the Aleutian Islands.
Their southernmost colony is on Little River Rock in Humboldt County, with a population of 200 individuals.

Their nesting habitat varies, ranging from bare rock to forests.
They typically build their nests under rock crevices or roots, or burrow into soft ground with low-growing vegetation.

As they frequent the open ocean, little is known about fork-tailed storm petrels outside of the breeding season.
They have been frequently sighted off the Californian coast, making them the most northerly distributed storm petrel during the winter.
Sparse sightings also indicate that they forage as far south as Hawaii.
The range of the fork-tailed storm petrel is estimated to cover 22,400,000 km² with over 6,000,000 individuals occurring globally, making it the second-most widespread and abundant storm petrel.  During the breeding season, the fork-tailed storm petrel form dense colonies on islands throughout northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alaska, and northeast Asia off the Kamchatka Peninsula. Most of their population is concentrated in Alaska, notably in the Bering Sea near the Aleutian Islands. Their southernmost colony is on Little River Rock in Humboldt County, with a population of 200 individuals.
Their nesting habitat varies, ranging from bare rock to forests. They typically build their nests under rock crevices or roots, or burrow into soft ground with low-growing vegetation.
As they frequent the open ocean, little is known about fork-tailed storm petrels outside of the breeding season. They have been frequently sighted off the Californian coast, making them the most northerly distributed storm petrel during the winter. Sparse sightings also indicate that they forage as far south as Hawaii.
Fork-tailed storm petrel