Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 34:11

"But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness." — Isaiah 34:11 (ASV)

But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it ... —The picture of a wild, desolate region, haunted by birds and beasts that shun the dwelling of humans, is a favorite one with Isaiah (Isaiah 14:23), and is reproduced by Zephaniah (Zephaniah 2:14). Naturalists agree in translating, The pelicans and hedgehogs; the owl, and the raven.

The line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness ... —The “line” and the “stones” are those of the builder’s plumb-line, used, as in 2 Kings 21:13, Amos 7:7–9, and Lamentations 2:8, for the work—not of building up, but of destroying with scientific completeness. “Confusion” and “emptiness” are the tohu v’bohu, “without form and void” of the primeval chaos (Genesis 1:1).