Speckled Birds

Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour. Jeremiah 12:9

"Put very briefly, the nation of Israel had been in such constant disobedience to God that the enemies all around were turned against them by the hand of God. “Mine heritage” here refers to the nation of Israel. This is God speaking. God says: “Mine heritage is as a speckled bird.”

Jeremiah had been bird watching, and he noticed how often when a speckled bird was hatched and eventually the feathers came so they knew that it was a speckled bird, all the other birds in the nest, even the mother, refused to accept it. They all pounced upon that bird from every corner and pecked it to death.

Jeremiah says that is the way the nation of Israel is. Because of Israel’s disobedience and willfulness, God permitted all the nations of the world to come and peck at her as a speckled bird."

(http://www.livingbiblestudies.org/study/JT60/001.html)