This species is almost entirely pelagic and only comes ashore to breed. It forages solitarily (Jennings. 2010). There is no information available about its diet in the UAE; elsewhere it feeds primarily on small fish, especially flying fish, but will also take squid. Most prey is caught by plunge-diving, but flying-fish are sometimes taken in flight (del Hoyo et al. 1992). It breeds colonially on rocky cliffs or slopes on islands, and only very rarely on the mainland (Aspinall and Porter 2011). There is no nest produced from any materials; instead, one egg is laid directly on the bare sand, stone or rock. In Arabia, the species generally nests in long, natural rock cavities with only one entrance, in caves or under overhangs in areas which are free of vegetation (Jennings 2010). The species's breeding biology in the Arabian Gulf is not well known. Birds return to their breeding sites in October and November, with eggs being recorded between December and June. It has been suggested that late breeding records come from inexperienced, young breeders using low-quality nesting sites (Jennings 2010). Breeding colonies are abandoned after breeding when individuals disperse over large distances; radio-tracking revealed that bird breeding on Qarnyan Island travelled to the Kerala coast of India (Jennings 2010).