SPECKLED BIRD.Jer_12:9 (only). If the MT [Note: Massoretic Text.] of this passage is correct, the tr. [Note: translate or translation.] can hardly be other than Is mine heritage unto me (i.e. to my sorrow [a dativus ethicus, Cheyne, ad toc.]) (as) a speckled bird of prey? Are (the) birds of prey against her round about? (so, substantially, RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). The people of Israel is compared to a bird of prey, just as, on account of its hostility to Jehovah, it is compared in v. 3 to a lion. But, as a speckled bird attracts the hostile attention of other birds, Israel becomes a prey to the heathen. The rendering proposed by some, mine heritage is unto me the ravenous hyæna, cannot be obtained from the present text, which, however, is possibly incorrect.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909