vocabulary/Animals
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. |
