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
Flinders Island provided by many small streams, few of them permanently flowing directly leading to the waters of Bass Strait or such a lagoon. The coastal areas are mainly covered in scrub or shrubs, whereas the vegetation at a higher elevation consists of woodland, mainly eucalyptus species. The total number of plant species in the Furneaux Group well exceeds 800, showing the great biodiversity of its ecosystem. Native bird species include the Cape Barren goose ("Cereopsis novaehollandiae") and the short-tailed shearwater ("Puffinus tenuirostris"). Marsupial mammals are represented by Bennett's wallaby ("Macropus rufogriseus"), brushtail possum ("Trichosurus vulpecula"), eastern pygmy possum ("Cercartetus nanus"), potoroo