Eastern osprey diurnal birds of prey, toes are of equal length, its tarsi are reticulate, and its talons are rounded, rather than grooved. The eastern and western osprey ("Pandion") and owls (Strigiformes) are the only hunters whose outer toe is reversible, allowing them to grasp their prey with two toes in front and two behind. This is particularly helpful when they grasp slippery fish. The states and territories of Australia where the species is recorded as occurring are Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, The range is a narrow strip at the coast and offshore islands, although it
The Origin of Birds exquisite detail the fossil remains of several extinct birds, including "Hesperornis", "Ichthyornis", "Archaeopteryx", and ""Archaeornis"", the name used commonly at the time for the Berlin specimen, which was then thought to represent a separate genus. Throughout this section are many finely detailed and labeled renderings of different parts of the skeletal anatomy of these birds, as well as other groups of extinct reptiles and some modern birds. Heilmann's attention to detail in his artwork is inspired at least in part by his dissatisfaction with anatomical renderings of these animals in scholarly works of the time, which he deemed as "unsatisfactory"