Flesh-footed Shearwater

The flesh-footed shearwater, or sable shearwater, is a medium-large shearwater with black plumage, pale pinkish feet and a pale bill with a distinct black tip. Together with the equally pale-billed pink-footed shearwater it forms a small group within the genus Ardenna, and a 2021 molecular study found very little genetic difference between the two. The cached species account gives few other details of its appearance (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives mainly in the Indo-Pacific and breeds in colonies in two main areas, the south-west Pacific around Lord Howe Island, South Australia and northern New Zealand, and islands off Western Australia, with a few pairs on St Paul Island in the Indian Ocean. Genetic studies show strong differences between the Pacific colonies and those off southern and Western Australia, linked to birds returning to their birthplace and to different foraging strategies. SoIB 2023 lists it as a summer visitor to Indian waters but gives no trend or priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).