The Gender of Animals in Spanish
Learn the Gender of Animals in Spanish

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)

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