All flying creatures were created on the fifth day of the Creation week. This included birds and bats, as well as any flying creatures now extinct, like pterosaurs. Flying insects would also have been included (Altmann 2019; Lightner 2010).

The Bible was written long before scientific classification schemes were created, so classification beyond the kind is strictly ethnozoological. Flying creatures encompass a wide range of Biblical kinds, each created separately, but some kinds shared enough characteristics to be lumped together under ethnozoological terminology. Driver (1955a) notes that ancient Hebrews used several generic umbrella terms: ba'al kanap ('owner of wings'), oph ('fliers'), sippor ('twitterers,' probably all small birds), ayit ('screamers,' probably all raptors), benot hassir ('birds of song'), and zamir ('songster').

The Dietary Laws denoted bats as unclean (Altmann 2019). The bats in Israel include the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) and a number of different insectivorous bats.

The Arabian ostrich was a subspecies found in the Middle East, but is now extinct. The North African ostrich has been reintroduced to Israel. The word yaanah (יַעֲנָה), used a few places in the Old Testament, likely refers to the ostrich.

Altmann (2019) suggests that the ostrich could be the בת יענה on ​the unclean birds list of the Dietary Laws.

Were ratites (ostriches, emus, kiwis, etc.) created as flightless birds, perhaps at the individual family levels? Or do they derive from flying ancestors on the Ark? There does seem to be a strong relationship between the extinct moas and the modern (flying) tinamous. This is an area that needs further investigation by creation biologists.

A different Hebrew word (רְנָנִים, renen) is used in Job 39, though it is often translated as 'ostrich.' Walker-Jones (2005) offers an intriguing alternate identification, suggesting that a better translation of the passage shows that the bird in question is probably the sandgrouse (Pterocles sp.). Most arguments for the ostrich identification appeal to folk beliefs about the ostrich rather than its true behavior and biology. Instead, Walker-Jones offers a translation that fits sandgrouse nesting behavior. There are several species of sandgrouse in Israel.

The doves on the Ark were ancestral to the species we have today, but probably no longer exist in that form. One of the earliest post-Flood fossil pigeons is Rupephaps, from Miocene New Zealand.

​There are a number of species of doves and pigeons in Israel today, including the genera Columba and Streptopelia.

The Corvidae includes the jays, crows, ravens, and other crow-like birds. There are several species in Israel, including the common raven (Corvux corax). Many corvids are known for their intelligence. The oreb in Scripture may refer primarily to the typical black birds like ravens, rooks, and crows (e.g. Song of Solomon 5:11).

The common quail (Coturnix coturnix) is well known for mass migration in the Middle East (Eason, et al. 2016). The Bible references two occasions when God provided quail (selav) in great numbers to the Israelites during the Exodus. Driver (1958) suggests that Numbers 11:31 may be better interpreted as the quail fluttering around the Israelite camp at about two cubits above the ground, rather than being piled in heaps to that height. Driver notes, "When the text of the Bible is rightly interpreted, the observation of nature by the ancient Hebrew writers is seen to be remarkably accurate."

On the second instance, Israel provoked God to anger, and He struck many of them down. Wilkinson (1999) notes a number of ways in which this could have been accomplished, including bacterial food poisoning. Another possibility is coturnism, which occurs after feeding on quail that have ingested toxic seeds or berries. The toxins accumulate in the quail, poisoning anyone who eats them (Ligabue-Braun and Carlini 2015).

The partridge referenced here (qore) would likely include the common chukar partridge, Alectoris chukar (Driver 1955b). McConnachie and Brophy (2007) noted an earlier identification as the sand partridge, Ammoperdix heyi. It is certainly possible that qore did not differentiate between the partridge species (and so could include the francolin as well).

House sparrows and other small birds have been caught for food and entertainment in the Mediterranean region for thousands of years. They still are poached by the millions around the Mediterranean, though mostly outside Israel (Brouchet et al. 2016).

A number of small birds may be referenced in Scripture (e.g. d'ror, sis), including swallows, rock thrushes, swifts and others.

Often translated as 'peacocks,' this is an uncertain Hebrew word used for something exotic that was brought to Israel during King Solomon's reign. There is debate as to whether Phoenician traders may have acquired peacocks from India; some have suggested that this is an umbrella term for birds with colorful plumage, possibly including parrots. Another direction of interpretation points to this word's relationship to the Egyptian word ky, or 'ape,' so it may not refer to a bird at all (Driver 1955b).

There are quite a few birds of prey (Family Accipitridae) in Israel, including eagles (golden eagles, white-tailed eagles, imperial eagles, steppe eagles, etc.), Old World vultures, and hawks. The Hebrew (neser or nesher) can refer to large eagles or vultures in the Bible, depending on context (Driver 1955a; Driver 1958; Altmann 2019).

In regard to the unclean birds listed in the Dietary Laws, peres (פֶרֶס) has been suggested by some to be the ossifrage or bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), because of its habit of dropping bones (and sometimes tortoises) from heights in order to crack them open. Altmann (2019) suggests it may rather refer to a bird that 'travels as part of a detachment,' but oddly seems to think that it would thus be a migratory bird but not a raptor. There are several species of raptors that migrate in numbers in Israel, including steppe buzzards, honey buzzards, steppe eagles, and black kites (Shirihai 2015). Vultures also migrate through the area, though not in as large of numbers. Of course, vultures will 'kettle' together, especially in migration.

Some have suggested that ozniyyah (עָזְנִיָּה) is the bearded vulture because the word is related to 'goat,' and that vulture species has a conspicuous goat-like beard (Driver 1955a). Altmann (2019) is less certain about the philology.

Dayyah (דַּיָּה) is usually taken as a kite or hawk.

For the Family Falconidae, ayyah (אַיָּה) likely refers to a falcon (with its keen eye, as Job notes). Nes (נֵץ) may refer to small species; sparrowhawks and the like (Driver 1955a).

Driver (1955a) suggests that the word raham (רָחָם) means osprey (Pandion haliaetus), as the root suggests white markings and it appears to be listed among fish-eating birds.

Driver (1955a) suggests that a number of the uncertain Hebrew terms given for wilderness inhabitants (like kos or tahmas, or even qaath which is sometimes translated pelican) may refer to various species of owls. Many of these will 'wail' or 'cry' at night. There were 9-10 species of owls in Israel in Biblical times. (Altmann (2019) offers alternative identifications for many of these words. Unfortunately, certain identification just isn't possible.)

The stork (chasidah) is one of several migratory birds that Jeremiah refers to in this verse. Both the black stork (Ciconia nigra) and white stork (Ciconia ciconia) migrate between Europe and Africa, preferring to cross over Israel rather than the Mediterranean Sea. Storks know their time, as Jeremiah says, when the seasons change. Driver (1955a) suggests that the Hebrew word may encompass storks and herons as appropriate to context.

Driver (1955a) suggests that anaphah (אֲנָפָה) may refer to the cormorant, as the word suggests a 'nose', and the bird has a hooked beak. It could potentially include other fishing birds. Altmann (2019) notes that some have suggested the flamingo for this identification, but goes on to argue that herons may be the best fit.

The Hebrew word dukiphath likely refers to the hoopoe, Upupa epops (Driver 1955a; Altmann 2019). While not raptors, these birds have a noxious anti-predator secretion which they rub on their plumage during breeding season, which may have contributed to their listing as unclean birds. The hoopoe is the National Bird of Israel.