Audubon's shearwater underparts are white, as is the head below eye level. The iris is dark, the feet are dull pink with a black wash and black toenails, and the bill is grey, darker towards the tip, and with a pinkish hue. Males and females look alike. Immature birds do not have a distinct plumage, while the nestlings are covered with down feathers, grey above and whitish on the belly. It can be confused with the Manx shearwater ("P. puffinus"), which has white undertail coverts and in direct comparison a longer bill. Other similar-looking species are usually completely allopatric, though the largely
Chagos Marine Protected Area Chagos are considered to be of international importance. The archipelago harbours eighteen different species of breeding birds and ten of its islands have been designated as Important Bird Areas (IBAs) by Birdlife International, making the region the most diverse breeding seabird community in this tropical region, though the presence of human-introduced rats on several of the other islands severely hinder seabird nesting on these. Five species are considered to be breeding in internationally significant numbers: the sooty tern ("Sterna fuscata"); the brown and lesser noddy ("Anous stolidus" and "Anous tenuirostris"); the red-footed booby ("Sula sula") and the wedge-tailed shearwater ("Puffinus