Animal Vocabulary

Animal Vocabulary

In Britain, we have a lot of wild animals; birds, fish, insects and mammals. We also have domesticated animals, and animals we keep as pets.

Wild Animals in Britain

Here are some of the most common ones.

Click on the picture.	Generic Name	Male	Female	Young	Group Name	Other Information
Mammals
	Badger(s)	Boar	Sow	Cub or Kit	Colony	(An old English name for a badger is a brock) They live in a set.
	Bat(s)	Male	Female	Pup	Colony	Bats are a protected species in the UK.
	Deer (Deer)	Stag	Doe	Fawn	Herd	A hart is a stag (usually a red deer) more than five years old, stag is more commonly used nowadays.
	Fox(es)	Dog-fox / Reynard	She-fox / Vixen	Cub	Skulk	Foxes live in an earth.
	Hare(s)	Jack	Jill	Leveret	Down	Hares live in forms.
	Hedgehog(s)	Boar	Sow	Piglet	Prickle
	Mole(s)	Male	Female	Pup	Labour	Moles live in holes.
	Mouse (Mice)	Buck	Doe	Pup	Nest
	Otter(s)	Dog	Bitch	Kitten	Family	Otters live in dens.
	Rabbit(s)	Buck	Doe	Kit / Bunny	Colony	Rabbits live in warrens.
	Rat(s)	Buck	Doe	Kitten / Pup	Nest	Rats often live in sewers.
	Squirrel(s)	Buck	Doe	Pup	Dray	There are two kinds of squirrel in the UK. The common grey squirrel and the rarer red squirrel. Only the red squirrel is a native.
	Stoat(s)	Jack	Jill	Kit	Pack
	Weasel(s)	Jack	Jill	Kit	Sneak
Birds	Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying, vertebrate animals.	Cock	Hen	Nestling / Hatchling/ Fledgling	Flock(s)	Most birds live in nests.
	Crow(s)	Male	Female	Young	Murder
	Dove(s)	Cock	Hen	Squab	Cote
	Duck(s)	Drake	Hen	Duckling	Flock
	Goose (Geese)	Gander	Goose	Gosling	If a group of geese is flying, it becomes a "skein". If they are on land or water, they're a "gaggle".
	Hawk(s)	Hen	Tiercel	Eyas	Aerie
	Heron(s)				Hedge
	Kingfisher(s)
	Owl(s)	Owl	Jenny	Owlet	Parliament
	Peafowl	Peacock	Peahen	Peachick	Pride
	Pheasant(s)	Cock	Hen	Chick	Brood
	Pigeon(s)	Cock	Hen	Squab	Flight
	Robin(s)	Cock	Hen	Chick
	Rook(s)	Cock	Hen	Chick	Building
	Sparrow(s)	Cock	Hen	Chick	Flock
	Starling(s)	Cock	Hen	Chick	Flock
	Swan(s)	Cob	Pen	Signet	Bevy
Insects	An invertebrate whose body is comprised of three segments and six legs.				Swarm
	Ant(s)	Prince / Drone	Queen / Princess / Worker	Antling	Army / Nest	Ants have a strange matriarchal set up. The Queen spends her life laying eggs, there is only one queen per colony. Worker ants are non-reproducing female worker ants, the daughters of the queen. Soldier ants are sterile females who defend the colony. The male ants are small ants that have wings. They fly from the colony to mate with a queen.
	Bee(s)	Drone	Queen / Worker	Larva	Hive	There are three types of honey bee. The Queen who lays the eggs. The workers are females who gather food, make honey, build the six-sided honeycomb, tend eggs, and guard the hive. And the drones are males who mate with the queen.
	Butterfly (Butterflies)	Male	Female	Caterpillar / Chrysalis	Swarm
	Dragonfly (Dragonflies)	Male	Female	Nymphs / Naiads	Swarm
	Fly (Flies)	Male	Female	Maggot	Swarm
	Moth(s)	Male	Female	Caterpillar / Chrysalis	Swarm
	Mosquito(es)	Male	Female	Larva	Swarm	There are thousands of mosquito species. The female is the one that usually bites.
	Spider(s)	Male	Female	Spiderling	Cluster	Spiders spin and live on a web. Thankfully the UK does not have any poisonous spiders.
Fish	Cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills.				Shoal / School
	Pike	-	-	Fry	Shoal / School
	Salmon	Jack	Hen	Fry	Run
	Trout	Jack	Hen	Fry	Hover
Amphibians	A class of animals that spend part of their time on land and part in the water; they are an intermediate form between fishes and reptiles.
	Frog(s)	Male	Female	Tadpole(s)	Army	The eggs of a frog are called spawn. Tadpoles metamorphose into frogs.
	Newt(s)	Male	Female	Larvae
	Toad(s)	Male	Female	Tadpole(s)	Knot	The eggs of a frog are called spawn. Tadpoles metamorphose into toads.
Reptiles	Cold-blooded vertebrate that lays eggs and has scales or plates on its skin
	Snake(s)	Male	Female	Young	Nest	There is only one poisonous snake in the UK; the adder.
Crustaceans	A class of invertebrates that have a segmented body, a hard external skeleton (exoskeleton), two sets of antennae and one pair of legs per body segment.
	Crab(s)	Male	Female	Zoea
	Lobster(s)	Male	Female	Zoea
Molluscs
	Clam(s)	Male	Female	Spat	Bed
	Cockle(s)	-	-	-	Bed	Cockles are hermaphroditic. A cockle will possess both male and female sex organs during its life
	Mussel(s)	Male	Female	Glochidia	Bed
	Oyster(s)	Male	Female	Spat	Bed
	Snail(s)	Male	Female	Baby	Rout	Snails are not often eaten in the UK.

Animals on the Farm

Animals that live on a farm are domesticated animals, they may be called farm animals.

	Generic Name	Male	Female	Young	Group Name	Other Information
Mammals
	Cattle	Bull	Cow	Calf	Herd / Kine	Mostly farmed for milk and meat (called beef).
	Deer (Deer)	Stag	Doe	Fawn	Herd	Deer are farmed for their meat (venison) on special deer farms in the UK.
	Dog(s)	Dog	Bitch	Puppy	Pack (a group of puppies is called a litter)	Mostly used for work, protection and herding on farms. Dog meat is not eaten in the UK.
	Donkey	Jack	Jenny	Colt	Drove	Mostly raised for pleasure. Donkey meat is not eaten in the UK.
	Goat(s)	Billy	Nanny	Kid	Flock	Mostly farmed for milk and cheese. Not many people eat goat meat in the UK.
	Horse(s)	Stallion	Mare	Foal	Herd	Mostly farmed for work, leisure or sport (riding etc). Not many people in the UK would knowingly eat horse meat, although there is a trade for pet meat.
	Pig(s)	Boar	Sow	Piglet	Litter	Mostly farmed for its meat (called pork).
	Sheep	Ram	Ewe	Lamb / Mutton	Flock	Mostly farmed for wool and meat. The meat is called lamb from sheep less than a year old and mutton from older sheep.
						Thanks to John-David Kraaikamp for pointing out my mistake.
Birds
	Chicken(s)	Cockerel	Hen	Chick	Brood	Farmed for its meat and eggs. A farm that only raises birds is a poultry farm.
	Duck(s)	Drake	Hen	Duckling	Brace	A wild fowl and a farmed bird. Mostly farmed for its meat.
	Goose (Geese)	Gander	Goose	Gosling	Gaggle	A wild fowl and a farmed bird. Mostly farmed for its meat.
Insects
	Bee(s)	Drone	Queen / Worker	Larva	Swarm	Bees live in hives, and are farmed for their honey. A bee farm is often called an apiary. Someone who keeps bees is usually called a beekeeper.
Fish
	Salmon	Jack	Hen	Fry	Shoal	Yes, salmon is farmed in the UK.
	Trout	Jack	Hen	Fry	Shoal	Yes, there are trout farms in the UK too.

Animals in the House

Animals that live in the house as companions are called pets.

	Generic Name	Male	Female	Young	Group Name	Other Information
Mammals
	Cat(s)	Tom	Queen	Kitten	Clutter (a group of kittens is called a litter)
	Dog(s)	Dog	Bitch	Puppy	Pack	There are between 6.5 million and 7.4 million pet dogs in the UK.
	Ferret(s)	Dog	Bitch	Kit	Cast	Domestic pet ferrets, Mustela furo (sometimes called Mustela putorius furo), are not wild animals.
	Gerbil(s)	Male	Female	Pup	Horde
	Guinea Pig(s)	Boar	Sow	Pup	Group	They are not related to pigs.
	Hamster(s)	Male	Female	Pup	Horde	I had several hamsters as pets when I was a child.
	Rabbit(s)	Buck	Doe	Kit / Bunny	Colony	Rabbits live in warrens.
	Rat(s)	Buck	Doe	Kitten / Pup	Nest	Seemingly rats make very good pets.
Birds
	Budgerigar(s)	Hen	Cock	Chick	Flock	They come in a variety of colours including blue. One of the most common pets in the UK. aka Budgie
	Canary (Canaries)	Hen	Cock	Chick	Flock
	Cockatiel(s)	Hen	Cock	Chick	Flock
	Cockatoo(s)	Hen	Cock	Chick	Flock
	Parrot(s)	Hen	Cock	Chick	Flock
Insects
	Spider(s)	Male	Female	Spiderling	Cluster	Yes, people in the UK keep spiders as pets.
Fish
	Goldfish	Male	Female	Fry	Shoal	Probably the most common pet in the UK.
Reptiles
	Snake(s)	Male	Female	Baby	Nest	Yes, people in the UK keep snakes as pets too.

Animal Sounds

Animals make distinct sounds, some of these sounds have their own word. Do you need to learn these? Probably not, but you never know, one day you might thank us.

Bees buzz.

Birds sing or tweet. Some birds caw.

Cats go miaow. They purr when they're happy.

Cockerels crow, or go cock-a-doodle-doo.

Cows go moo.

Dogs bark or go woof woof. They growl when they're angry.

Donkeys bray, or go heehaw.

Ducks quack.

Flies buzz.

Frogs croak or go ribbit.

Geese honk.

Goats bleat.

Hens cluck.

Horses neigh.

Mice squeak.

Pigs oink or grunt or squeal.

Sheep bleat or go baa.

Snakes hiss.

Toads croak.