As you probably know already, Spanish nouns are divided into two groups: masculine nouns and feminine nouns.
[You can read more about the gender of Spanish nouns in this post.]
In Spanish, nouns referring to animals, follow two different patterns with regard to their gender.
1. Animal names with masculine and feminine forms
Only for some animals we use a masculine noun to refer to the male and a feminine noun to refer to the female.
It may be the same noun with a different ending:
• conejo [male rabbit] - coneja [female rabbit]
• tigre [male tiger] - tigresa [female rabbit]
Or a different word altogether:
• caballo [stallion] - yegua [mare]
• carnero [ram] - oveja [ewe]
We tend to use the masculine noun to refer to the animal without the sex distinction:
• conejo [rabbit], tigre [tiger], caballo [horse].
But we use the feminine form in some cases:
• oveja [sheep], cabra [ram].
2. Animal names with only one form
Most animals, however, have a fixed name in Spanish with an arbitrary gender* that we need to learn, as happens with most Spanish nouns.
* Remember that, when speaking about languages, the word gender refers to a grammatical division that may or may not reflect biological sex.
Some are masculine nouns:
• cocodrilo [crocodile]
• lince [lynx]
• gorila [gorilla]
And some are feminine nouns:
• jirafa [giraffe]
• liebre [hare]
• lombriz [earthworm]
When we want to distinguish the animal’s sex, we add the word macho [male] or hembra [female] to the noun:
• jirafa macho [male giraffe] - jirafa hembra [female giraffe]
• cocodrilo macho [male crocodile] - cocodrilo hembra [female crocodile]
Determiners and adjectives must agree with the noun’s gender and not with the animal’s sex. However, macho and hembra are nouns, and they don't have to agree in gender nor number with the animal noun:
• La jirafa macho está cansada. [The male giraffe is tired.]
• Esos cocodrilos hembra son pequeños. [Those female crocodiles are small.]
In informal language, sometimes the article is used to express the animal’s sex:
• el cocodrilo [the male crocodile] - la cocodrilo [female crocodile]
A special case
Remember that feminine nouns (referring to animals or not) with a stressed initial a- take on the masculine-singular articles el and un for reasons of pronunciation.
For example, águila [eagle] takes on the masculine article when singular, but any modifying adjective must continue to agree with the noun’s feminine inflection:
• El águila es rápida. [The eagle is fast.]
• Un águila blanca voló sobre nosotros. [A white eagle flew over us.]
And it takes on the feminine article when used in plural:
• Las águilas son rápidas. [Eagles are fast.]
• Unas águilas blancas volaron sobre nosotros. [Some white eagles flew over us.]
[You can read more about the use of the masculine article before some feminine nouns in this post.]
Lists of Animals in Spanish
Below you will find two useful lists.
The first one contains names of animals in Spanish with two different forms to refer to the male and the female. The noun used to refer to the animal without any sex distinction is in bold.
The second list contains animal names with only one form, either masculine or feminine. (For the English translation, I’ve included only the general noun, i.e., the word that describes the animal without the sex distinction.)
I’ve chosen just a few animals to list as examples here. Please, contact me if you miss seeing a particular animal or want to ask anything.
Have fun learning the names of animals in Spanish!
List of animals with two different forms
| English | Masculine | Feminine |
| buffalo | búfalo | búfala |
| donkey | burro | burra |
| horse | caballo | yegua |
| goat | cabrón | cabra |
| camel | camello | camella |
| sheep | carnero | oveja |
| pig, sow | cerdo | cerda |
| deer | ciervo | cierva |
| rabbit | conejo | coneja |
| elephant | elefante | elefanta |
| hen | gallo | gallina |
| goose | ganso | gansa |
| cat | gato | gata |
| lion | león | leona |
| wolf | lobo | loba |
| parrot | loro | lora |
| monkey | mono | mona |
| mule | mulo | mula |
| bear | oso | osa |
| duck | pato | pata |
| turkey | pavo | pava |
| dog | perro | perra |
| tiger | tigre | tigresa |
| cow | toro | vaca |
| fox | zorro | zorra |
List of animals with only one form
| English | Spanish |
| bee | abeja (f) |
| eagle | águila (f) |
| lark | alondra (f) |
| antelope | antílope (m) |
| squirrel | ardilla (f) |
| ostrich | avestruz (m) |
| wasp | avispa (f) |
| slug | babosa (f) |
| whale | ballena (f) |
| bison | bisonte (m) |
| ox | buey (m) |
| owl | búho (m) |
| vulture | buitre (m) |
| chameleon | camaleón (m) |
| canary | canario (m) |
| crab | cangrejo (m) |
| kangaroo | canguro (m) |
| snail | caracol (m) |
| carp | carpa (f) |
| beaver | castor (m) |
| zebra | cebra (f) |
| chimpanzee | chimpancé (m) |
| bedbug | chinche (m) |
| cicada | cigarra (f) |
| stork | cigüeña (f) |
| swan | cisne (m) |
| crocodile | cocodrilo (m) |
| coral | coral (m) |
| cockroach | cucaracha (f) |
| cuckoo | cuco (m) |
| crow | cuervo (m) |
| dolphin | delfín (m) |
| hedgehog | erizo (m) |
| beetle | escarabajo (m) |
| sponge | esponja (f) |
| starfish | estrella de mar (f) |
| pheasant | faisán (m) |
| flamingo | flamenco (m) |
| seal | foca (f) |
| tick | garrapata (f) |
| heron | garza (f) |
| sparrowhawk | gavilán (m) |
| gull | gaviota (f) |
| swallow | golondrina (f) |
| gorilla | gorila (m) |
| sparrow | gorrión (m) |
| cricket | grillo (m) |
| crane | grulla (f) |
| hawk | halcón (m) |
| hyena | hiena (f) |
| hippopotamus | hipopótamo (m) |
| ant | hormiga (f) |
| ibis | ibis (m) |
| wild boar | jabalí (m) |
| giraffe | jirafa (f) |
| koala | koala (m) |
| lizard | lagarto (m) |
| sea lion | león marino (m) |
| leopard | leopardo (m) |
| dragonfly | libélula (f) |
| hare | liebre (f) |
| lynx | lince (m) |
| seal | lobo marino (m) |
| earthworm | lombriz (f) |
| firefly | luciérnaga (f) |
| butterfly | mariposa (f) |
| ladybug | mariquita (f) |
| groundhog | marmota (f) |
| jellyfish | medusa (f) |
| kite | milano (m) |
| blackbird | mirlo (m) |
| fly | mosca (f) |
| mosquito | mosquito (m) |
| bat | murciélago (m) |
| otter | nutria (f) |
| orangutan | orangután (m) |
| caterpillar | oruga (f) |
| panda | oso panda (m) |
| polar bear | oso polar (m) |
| bird | pájaro (m) |
| woodpecker | pájaro carpintero (m) |
| pigeon | paloma (f) |
| panther | pantera (f) |
| peacock | pavo real (m) |
| pelican | pelícano (m) |
| parakeet | periquito (m) |
| fish | pez (m) |
| penguin | pingüino (m) |
| louse | piojo (m) |
| moth | polilla (f) |
| flea | pulga (f) |
| puma | puma (m) |
| frog | rana (f) |
| rat | rata (f) |
| mouse | ratón (m) |
| reindeer | reno (m) |
| rhinoceros | rinoceronte (m) |
| nightingale | ruiseñor (m) |
| salamander | salamandra (f) |
| grasshopper | saltamontes (m) |
| leech | sanguijuela (f) |
| toad | sapo (m) |
| snake | serpiente (f) |
| horsefly | tábano (m) |
| badger | tejón (m) |
| shark | tiburón (m) |
| mole | topo (m) |
| turtle | tortuga (f) |
| viper |
víbora (f) |