John Calvin Commentary Psalms 102:6

"I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am become as an owl of the waste places." — Psalms 102:6 (ASV)

I have become like a pelican of the wilderness. Instead of rendering the original word as pelican, some translate it as bittern, and others as the cuckoo. The Hebrew word used here for owl is rendered by the Septuagint as νυκτικοραξ, which signifies a bat. But as even the Jews are doubtful about the kind of birds intended here, let it be enough for us simply to know that in this verse there are pointed out certain melancholy birds, whose dwelling place is in the holes of mountains and in deserts, and whose note, instead of being delightful and sweet to the ear, inspires those who hear it with terror.

I am removed, as if to say, from the society of men, and have become almost like a wild beast of the forest. Although the people of God dwelt in a well-cultivated and fertile region, yet the whole country of Chaldea and Assyria was to them like a wilderness, since their hearts were bound by the strongest ties of affection to the temple, and to their native country from which they had been expelled. The third similitude, which is taken from the sparrow, denotes such grief as produces the greatest uneasiness. The word צפור, tsippor, generally signifies any kind of bird; but I have no doubt that it is here to be understood as the sparrow. It is described as solitary or alone, because it has been bereaved of its mate; and so deeply affected are these little birds when separated from their mates, that their distress exceeds almost all sorrow.