In this lesson, we will learn names of animals in Spanish, including mammals, insects, birds, fish, and reptiles.
Names of animals in Spanish
A zoo - un jardín zoológico/un zoológico/ un zoo
Pets (Las Mascotas)
- El perro - Dog
- El gato - Cat
- El cachorro - Puppy
- El hámster - Hamster
- La cobaya - Guinea Pig
- El pez - Fish
- La tortuga - Turtle
Birds (Aves)
- El águila (feminine noun) - Eagle
- El albatros - Albatross
- El avestruz - Ostrich
- El búho - Owl
- La cigüeña - Stork
- La cotorra, el loro - Parrot
- El flamenco - Flamingo
- La gaviota - Seagull
- El halcón - Falcon, hawk
- La oca - Goose
- La paloma - Dove
- El pato - Duck
- El pavo - Turkey
- El pavón - Peacock
- El pingüino - Penguin
Mammals (Mamíferos)
- El alce - Elk, moose
- El caballo - Horse
- El camello - Camel
- El canguro - Kangaroo
- La cebra - Zebra
- El cerdo - Pig
- El chimpancé - Chimpanzee
- El ciervo - Deer
- El elefante - Elephant
- El gorila - Gorilla
- El guepardo - Cheetah
- La jirafa - Giraffe
- El hipopótamo - Hippopotamus
- El león - Lion
- El leopardo - Leopard
- El mono - Monkey
- El oso - Bear
- El panda - Panda
- El rinoceronte - Rhinoceros
- El tigre - Tiger
- El zorro - Fox
Reptiles (Reptiles)
- El lagarto/El aligátor - Alligator
- La culebra - Snake
- El cocodrilo - Crocodile
- El serpiente - Snake
- La tortuga - Turtle, tortoise
Bugs and Insects (Bichos e Insectos)
- La oruga - Caterpillar
- La mariposa - Butterfly
- La polilla - Moth
- La mosca - Fly
- La araña - Spider
- La cucaracha - Cockroach
- El caracol - Snail
- El gusano - Worm
Gender of animals
Nouns in Spanish can be either masculine or feminine. And most animal names have a female and a male form. For example, a cat can be "el gato" (masculine) or "la gata" (feminine). However, a hamster will always be "el hámster". Therefore, it is important to understand that grammatical and biological gender.
The "default" gender in Spanish is usually the masculine. For instance, when describing a group of dogs, you need to use the masculine forms "los perros" regardless of whether most dogs in that group are males or females. However, the feminine form can sometimes be used as the generic gender. When describing a group of turtles, Spanish prefers las tortugas (feminine) before los tortugos (masculine). You would only use the second one if you were sure all the turtles were males.
The list above is the generic form of different animals. You can use them if you didn't know the animal's gender.
Watch the video below for further instruction.