the desert owl
The Hebrew word here is "tachmas," which is often translated as "desert owl" or "screech owl." This bird is typically associated with the wilderness, a place of testing and trial in the biblical narrative. The desert owl's habitat in barren, uninhabited areas may symbolize spiritual barrenness or separation from God. In the broader scriptural context, the wilderness is where the Israelites wandered for forty years, a place of both judgment and divine provision. The mention of the desert owl in the list of unclean animals could serve as a metaphor for spiritual desolation and the importance of seeking God's presence even in life's wilderness experiences.

the osprey
The Hebrew term "shalach" is used here, which is often translated as "osprey" or "sea eagle." The osprey is a bird of prey, known for its keen eyesight and hunting prowess. In the biblical context, birds of prey are often associated with destruction and judgment. The osprey's inclusion in the list of unclean birds may highlight the theme of divine judgment and the need for discernment in spiritual matters. The osprey's ability to see clearly from great heights can serve as a metaphor for the believer's call to seek God's perspective and wisdom, rising above earthly concerns to understand His will and purpose.

And the pelican.--The pelican is one of the largest and most voracious of the web-footed birds. It fills its capacious pouch with fish almost to suffocation, which it disgorges either for its own future consumption, or for the nourishment of its young, by pressing the under mandible against the neck and breast to assist the vomiting up of the contents. Hence its Hebrew name, which denotes "the vomiter." During this operation the red nail of the upper mandible comes in contact with the breast, thus imparting to it the appearance of blood, which is most probably the origin of the fable that it feeds its young with its own life-blood. The pelican often builds in deserted places as far as twenty miles from the shore. When it has filled its expansive pouch with prey, it retires to its lonely place of repose, where it remains with its head leaning against its breast almost motionless till impelled by hunger to fly to the water in search for a fresh store of victims. It is to this melancholy attitude of lonely desolation that the Psalmist refers when he says, "I am like a pelican of the wilderness" (Psalm 102:6), and it is to its habit of building in deserted places that the prophets allude when they describe the desolation of Edom and Nineveh by saying that "the pelican shall possess" them (Isaiah 34:11; Zephaniah 2:14). In the last two passages the Authorised Version, which wrongly translates it "cormorant" in the text, has rightly pelican in the margin.

And the gier eagle.--As the name of a bird, this word (racham), which is here in the masculine form, and denotes "the merciful," only occurs again in the parallel passage, Deuteronomy 14:17, where, however, it is in the feminine (rachamah). The species here intended is most probably the Gyps, called alternately the sacred or Egyptian vulture and Pharaoh's hen, which is often figured on the ancient Egyptian monuments. It was regarded with religious veneration in Egypt, both because it prevented epidemics by acting as scavenger, and because of its extreme devotion and tenderness to its young, since it was believed to watch over its offspring a hundred and twenty days every year, and to feed them, if necessary, with the blood of its thighs. Hence it was used to denote both "mother" and "merciful" in Egyptian, and hence, too, its name "merciful" in Hebrew. The ancients also believed that there were no male vultures, and that the females conceived through the wind. It was probably to counteract this superstitious belief that the lawgiver uses here the masculine form and the feminine form in the parallel passage in Deuteronomy 14:17. The vulture is most loathsome in its habits, and feeds upon the foulest carrion, for which reason it is put in the list of unclean birds. . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...