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
Flesh-footed shearwater Flesh-footed shearwater The flesh-footed shearwater ("Ardenna carneipes"; formerly "Puffinus carneipes") is a medium-sized shearwater. Its plumage is black. It has pale pinkish feet, and a pale bill with a distinct black tip. Together with the equally light-billed pink-footed shearwater, it forms the "Hemipuffinus" group, a superspecies which may or may not have an Atlantic relative in the great shearwater. These are large shearwaters which are among those that have been separated in the genus "Ardenna". It breeds in colonies, and has two main breeding areas: one in the southwest Pacific Ocean includes Lord Howe Island (16,900 pairs ), South Australia