As far as they can be identified, the birds here mentioned are such as live upon animal food. They were those which the Israelites might have been tempted to eat, either from their being easy to obtain, or from the example of other nations, and which served as types of the entire range of prohibited kinds.
The eagle - Rather, the great vulture, which the Egyptians are known to have ranked as the first among birds. Compare 2 Samuel 1:23; Psalms 103:5; Proverbs 23:5, etc.
The Ossifrage, or bone-breaker, was the lammer-geyer, and the “ospray” (a corruption of ossifrage) the sea-eagle.
The vulture - Rather, the (black) kite Isaiah 34:15 : “the kite,” rather the red kite, remarkable for its piercing sight Job 28:7.
Every raven after his kind - i. e. the whole family of corvidae.
And the owl ... - Rather, “and the ostrich, and the owl, and the gull, and the hawk,” etc.
The swan - More probably the ibis, the sacred bird of the Egyptians. “The gier eagle” is most likely the Egyptian vulture, a bird of unprepossessing appearance and disgusting habits, but fostered by the Egyptians as a useful scavenger.
The heron ... the lapwing - Rather, the great plover the hoopoe, so called from its peculiar cry.