Albert Barnes Commentary Leviticus 11:13-19

"And these ye shall have in abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the gier-eagle, and the ospray, and the kite, and the falcon after its kind, every raven after its kind, and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the seamew, and the hawk after its kind, and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, and the horned owl, and the pelican, and the vulture, and the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat." — Leviticus 11:13-19 (ASV)

As far as they can be identified, the birds mentioned here are those that live on animal food. They were those which the Israelites might have been tempted to eat, either because they were easy to obtain or because of the example of other nations, and which served as types of the entire range of prohibited kinds (Leviticus 11:13).

The eagle – Rather, the great vulture, which the Egyptians are known to have ranked as the first among birds (Compare to 2 Samuel 1:23; Psalms 103:5; Proverbs 23:5, etc.).

The Ossifrage, or bone-breaker, was the lammergeier, and the “ospray” (a corruption of ossifrage) the sea-eagle (Leviticus 11:14).

The vulture – Rather, the (black) kite (Isaiah 34:15): “the kite,” rather the red kite, remarkable for its piercing sight (Job 28:7) (Leviticus 11:15).

Every raven after his kind – that is, the whole family of corvidae (Leviticus 11:16).

And the owl ... – Rather, “and the ostrich, and the owl, and the gull, and the hawk,” etc. (Leviticus 11:18).

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 (Leviticus 11:19).

The heron ... the lapwing – Rather, the great plover, the hoopoe, so called from its peculiar cry.