List of animal sounds

Certain words in the English language represent animal sounds: the noises and vocalizations of particular animals, especially noises used by animals for communication. The words can be used as verbs or interjections in addition to nouns, and many of them are also specifically onomatopoeic.

List of animal sounds

Picture	Animal	Description	Sound
	Alligator	bellow, hiss	Alligator bellow
	Alpaca	alarm call, cluck/click, hum, orgle, scream[1]
	Antelope	snort[2]
	Badger	growl[3]	Badger
	Bat	screech,[4] squeak, eek	Bats
	Bear	roar, growl	Bear cub growl
	Bee	buzz	Hummel bee Xylocopa pubescens (carpenter bee) offsprings
	Big cat (Tiger, Lion, Jaguar, Leopard)	roar,[5] growl,[6] snarl[7]	Tiger growl Jaguar making a content "sawing" sound.
	Camel	grunt
	Capybara	squeak,[8] chatter, bark
	Cat	mew, meow, purr, hiss, trill, caterwaul, growl	Cat meow Domestic cat purring
	Cattle	moo, low
	Chicken	cluck, buck, crow[9] cha-caw, bah-gawk (female)[10] cock-a-doodle-doo (male)	Rooster crowing
	Chinchilla	squeak[11]
	Cicada	chirp[12]	Cicada
	Crab	chirp, click, creak[13]^[better source needed]
	Crane	clang
	Cricket	chirp	Cricket
	Crow	caw, cah[14]	Black Crow
	Curlew	pipe[15]
	Deer	bellow, bell (buck), bleat (doe, fawn)	Red deer
	Dog	arf, bark, boof, bay, howl, growl, snarl, moan, whine, whimper, yelp, scream, sigh, sneeze, woof, yip	Dog bark
	Dolphin	click,[16] whistle[17]
	Donkey	hee-haw,[18] bray	Domestic donkey brays
	Duck	quack	Mallard Duck
	Eagle	screech[19]	Bald Eagle
	Elephant	trumpet	Elephant trumpet
	Elk	bugle (male),[20] bleat (calves)[21]	Elk bellow
	Ferret	dook[22]
	Fly	buzz[23]
	Fox	bark, scream, howl, snore, gecker[24]
	Fish	glub
	Frog	croak, ribbit	Pacific tree frog
	Gaur	low, moo
	Giraffe	bleat,[25] hum[26]	Giraffe hum
	Goat	bleat, maa	Herd of goats bleating
	Goose	honk, hiss	Geese Honking
	Grasshopper	chirp[27]	Grasshoppers chirping
	Guinea pig	wheek[28]
	Hamster	squeak[29]
	Hawk	screech	Hawk screeching
	Hermit crab	chirp[30]
	Hippopotamus	growl[31]
	Hornet	buzz	Hummel bee
	Horse	neigh, whinny, nicker, hoofbeats (clip-clop)
	Hyena	laugh	Spotted Hyena
	Jackal	gecker[6]
	Koala	bellow, shriek
	Kangaroo	jump
	Laughing kookaburra	laugh
	Lemur	chatter, whoop
	Leopard	roar, growl, snarl
	Linnet	chuckle[32]
	Lion	roar, growl, snarl	Lion roar
	Locust	chirp[27]
	Magpie	chatter[33]	Magpie
	Monkey	scream, chatter, gecker,[6] howl	Mantled Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata)
	Moose	bellow[34]
	Mosquito	buzz, whine
	Mouse	squeak
	Okapi	cough, bellow[35]
	Owl	hoot, hiss, caterwaul for barred owls, twit twoo for tawny owls [36]	Great horned owl
	Ox	low, moo
	Parrot	squawk, talk	White-capped Parrot Rose-ringed Parakeet imitating human speech
	Peacock	scream,[37] squawk, honk	Peacock
	Penguin	chirp, honk, trumpet, bray
	Pig	oink,[31][38] snort,[39] squeal, grunt	Pig
	Pigeon	coo	Wood pigeon
	Prairie dog	bark[40]
	Quail	call	Call of a male common quail
	Rabbit	squeak	Rabbit
	Raccoon	trill[41]	Baby Raccoon Chatter
	Rat	squeak
	Raven	caw, cronk	Common Raven
	River otter	blow, chatter, chirp, creek, grunt, hiccup, hiss, scream, squeak, swish, whine, whistle, chatterchirp,[42][43] purr[44]
	Rook	caw
	Seal	bark[45]
	Sheep	bleat, baa, maa, meh (lambs)	Sheep
	Snake	hiss, rattle	Rattlesnake
	Songbird	chirrup, chirp, tweet, sing, warble (larks / warblers / wrens),[46][47] twitter (sparrows)[48]	Goldfinch
	Squirrel	squeak
	Swan	cry, trumpet, bugle	Trumpeter swan
	Tapir	squeak[49]
	Tokay gecko	croak[50]	Tokay gecko mating call
	Turkey	gobble	Wild Turkey
	Whale	sing	Humpback whale
	Wild boar	growl, grumble	Wild boar
	Wildebeest	low, moo
	Wolf	howl, growl, bay	Wolf howls
	Zebra	bray, bark, whistle, yip, nicker

See also

• Animal communication
• Animal epithet
• Animal language
• Bioacoustics
• Cat organ & piganino
• Cross-linguistic onomatopoeias
• Field recording
• List of animal names
• List of onomatopoeias
• "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"
• "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)"

References

1. "Important Question: What Sound Does An Alpaca Make?". Modern Farmer. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
2. Caro, Tim (2005). Antipredator Defenses in Birds and Mammals. University of Chicago Press. p. 250. ISBN 9780226094366.
3. Schwartz, Charles Walsh; Schwartz, Elizabeth Reeder (2001). The Wild Mammals of Missouri (2nd revised ed.). University of Missouri Press. p. 316. ISBN 9780826213594.
4. Boughman, Janette Wenrick; Wilkinson, Gerald S. (1999). "Social Influences on Foraging in Bats". Mammalian Social Learning: Comparative and Ecological Perspectives (72). University of Cambridge Press: 195.
5. "Big Cat Facts". Animal Facts Encyclopedia. Copyright by Jenise Alongi. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
6. Estes, Richard (1991). The Behavior Guide to African Mammals: Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, Primates. University of California Press. p. 374. ISBN 9780520080850.
7. Schaller, George B. (1967). The Deer and the Tiger. University of Chicago Press. p. 261. ISBN 9780226736570.
8. Barros, Kamila S.; Tokumaru, Rosana S.; Pedroza, Janine P.; Nogueira, Selene S. C. (2010-11-22). "Vocal Repertoire of Captive Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris): Structure, Context and Function". Ethology. 117 (1): 83–94. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01853.x. ISSN 0179-1613.
9. Why Do Roosters Crow?: First Questions and Answers about Farms. Time-Life for Children. 1995. ISBN 9780783508993.
10. Caughey, Melissa (2015). A Kid's Guide to Keeping Chickens: Best Breeds, Creating a Home, Care and Handling, Outdoor Fun, Crafts and Treats. Storey Publishing. p. 90
11. Winter, Lisa. The Ultimate Guide To Chinchilla Care. Simple Sequence Books. p. 24.
12. Power, Carla (September 4, 2000). "Ruins with A View". Newsweek International: 24.
13. "What sound does a crab make?". Answers. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
14. Holmes, Hannah (2005). Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn. Bloomsbury. p. 10. ISBN 9781596918115.
15. White, Gilbert (1837). The natural history and antiquities of Selborne. With The naturalist's calendar and miscellaneous observations. p. 449.
16. Wilson, Ben (1998). Dolphins of the World. Voyager Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780896585362.
17. Harley, Heidi E. (13 November 2007). "Whistle discrimination and categorization by the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus): A review of the signature whistle framework and a perceptual test". Behavioural Processes. 77 (2). Elsevier: 243–268. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2007.11.002. PMID 18178338.
18. Metz, Lorijo (2011). Donkeys: Jennies, Jacks, and Foals. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 10. ISBN 9781448806881.
19. "Caught in the Act - to Capture Bald Eagles on Film, a Husband-and-Wife Team Has Spent Years Perfecting the Art of Anticipation". National Wildlife. 39 (2): 24. February–March 2001.
20. Thomas, Jack Ward; Toweill, Dale (2002). Elk of North America, Ecology and Management. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-8117-0571-4.
21. Ballard, Jack (2012). Elk: A Falcon Field Guide. Morris Book Publishing. p. 47. ISBN 9780762776269. Elk vocalizations aren't reserved just for the bulls. Cows and ... Calves may respond to the cow calls with their own low bleats. When large ..
22. Mathis, Christine; Morton, E. Lynn (2010). Ferrets. Barron's. p. 87. ISBN 9780764143328.
23. "House Fly Sounds: How House Flies Generate the Sound We Hear | Orkin". www.orkin.com. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
24. "What does the red fox say?". Popular Science. 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
25. Silverstein, Alvin; Silverstein, Virginia (1980). Nature's Champions: The Biggest, the Fastest, the Best. Random House. p. 19. ISBN 9780486428888.
26. Baotic, A.; Sicks, F.; Stoeger, A. S. (2015). "Nocturnal "humming" vocalizations: adding a piece to the puzzle of giraffe vocal communication". BMC Research Notes. 8: 425. doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1394-3. PMC 4565008. PMID 26353836.
27. Heinrichs, Anna (2002). Grasshoppers. Compass Point Books. p. 4. ISBN 9780756501662.
28. Gunter, Veronika Alica; Newcomb, Rain (2006). Pet Science: 50 Purr-fectly Woof-worthy Activities for You & Your Pets. Lark Books. p. 21. ISBN 9781579907860.
29. Bartlett, Patricia Pope (2003). The Hamster Handbook. Barron's. p. 37. ISBN 9780764122941.
30. Wilkins, Kelli A. (2007). Hermit Crabs For Dummies. Wiley Publishing. ISBN 9781118068267.
31. Symons, Mitchell (2012). The Bumper Book For The Loo: Facts and figures, stats and stories – an unputdownable treat of trivia. Random House. p. 364. ISBN 9781448152711.
32. Le Clerc, Georges Louis (1793). The natural history of birds, from the Fr. of the count de Buffon. p. 54.
33. Birkhead, Tim (1991). The Magpies: The Ecology and Behaviour of Black-Billed and Yellow-Billed Magpies. T & AD Poyser. p. 250. ISBN 9781408137772.
34. "Moose". International Wildlife Encyclopedia. Marshall Cavendish. 2002. p. 1656.
35. Lindsey, Susan Lyndaker; Green, Mary Neel; Bennett, Cynthia L. (1999). The Okapi: Mysterious Animal of Congo-Zaire. University of Texas Press. p. 34. ISBN 9780292788329.
36. Trust, Woodland (2023-12-21). "Identify UK owl calls". Woodland Trust. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
37. Attarde, I. P. (2007). Encyclopedic Graded Grammar. Vol. 1. LULU. p. 25. ISBN 9781435707177.
38. "Oink." Merriam-Webster. 26-01-2016.
39. QA International Collectif (1999). So Many Ways to Communicate - A new way to explore the animal kingdom. Québec Amerique. p. 29. ISBN 9782764409213.
40. Valerie V. Tynes, ed. (2010). Behavior of Exotic Pets. Blackwell. p. 149. ISBN 9781118710135.
41. Siegel, Mordecai (2004). The Cat Fanciers' Association Complete Cat Book. HarperCollins. p. 136. ISBN 9780062030399.
42. Walkley, Sarah (Spring 2018). Vocalizations of North American River Otters (Lontra canadensis) in Two Human Care Populations (MA Thesis). University of Southern Mississippi. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
43. Walkley, Sarah; Zapetis, Maria; Lyn, Heidi (2018). "Vocalizations of North American river otters ( Lontra canadensis ) in two human care populations". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 144 (3_Supplement): 1954. Bibcode:2018ASAJ..144.1954W. doi:10.1121/1.5068543.
44. Pesaturo, Janet (11 February 2020). "River Otter Vocalizations: the Purr". Winterberry Wildlife. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
45. McCausland, Jim (May 2005). "Hood Canal Hideaway: Between Seattle and the Olympics, an Unsung Getaway Just Got Better". Sunset. 214 (5): 64+.
46. Rao, S. N. (2004). Strengthen Your English. V. V. K. Subburaj. p. 26. ISBN 9788172540531.
47. Stallcup, Rich (1993). Birds of California: A Guide to Viewing Distinctive Varieties. American Traveler. p. 38. ISBN 9781558381322.
48. Sharma, S. D. (2007). A Text Book of Scientific and Technical Communication Writing for Engineers and Professionals (3rd ed.). Sarup & Sons. p. 365. ISBN 9788176257510.
49. Endangered Wildlife and Plants of the World. Marshall Cavendish. 2001. p. 1460. ISBN 9780761471943.
50. Perez, Larry (2012). Snake in the Grass: An Everglades Invasion. Pineapple Press. p. 55. ISBN 9781561645138.

External links

• List of animal sounds to download, listen and use for free.
• Multilingual list of animal sounds Derek Abbott, University of Adelaide