English language has a variety of words denoting the sounds of animals and birds. What do you call the sounds created by a cat, for instance? Well, they purr when they are happy, mew when they are hungry and caterwaul when they are on the roof at night. Some of the noises that animals make have interesting names in English.
The following is a list of sound words that denote animal sounds and bird cries. It also contains a list of words that denote the sounds produced by inanimate objects and sounds in nature. Search a word to find more about the sounds of animals and birds.
Animals / Objects Sounds
Apes gibber
Arms clang
Asses bray
Babies lisp
Bears growl
Bees buzz, hum, murmur
Beetles drone
Bells chime, jingle, peal, ring, tinkle, toll
Birds carol, chirp, chirrup, sing, twitter, warble
Brakes rasp, screech
Bugles blow
Bullets whizz
Bulls bellow
Camels grunt
Cats caterwaul, mew, purr
Cattle low
Chains clank
Cocks crow
Coins jingle, tinkle
Cows low, moo
Crickets chirp
Crows caw
Cuckoos coo
Dogs bark, bay, growl, howl, snarl, whine, yelp
Donkeys bray
Doors creak
Doves coo
Drums beat
Ducks quack
Eagles scream
Elephants trumpet
Flies buzz
Footsteps sound
Foxes bark, yelp
Frogs croak
Geese cackle, gobble, hiss
Goats bleat
Guns boom, roar, explode
Hawks scream
Hens crackle, chuckle, cluck
Hogs grunt
Hoofs clatter
Horses neigh, snort, whinny
Hounds bay
Hyenas laugh
Jackals howl
Keys jingle
Kittens mew
Lambs bleat
Larks sing, warble
Leaves rustle
Lions roar
Magpies chatter
Mice squeak
Monkeys chatter, gibber
Nightingales sing, warble
Owls hoot, scream, screech
Oxen low, bellow
Parrots chatter, screech, talk
Pea-fowls scream
Pigeons coo
Pigs grunt, squeal
Puppies yelp
Rabbits squeal
Railway engines hoot, roar, whistle
Rain patters
Ravens croak
Reeds whisper
Rooks caw
Sea-gulls scream
Serpents hiss
Sheep bleat
Shoes creak
Silk rustles
Snakes hiss
Sparrows chirp, twitter
Squirrels squeak
Steel clinks
Streams babble
Swans cry
Swallows twitter
Teeth chatter
The wind whistles, sighs
Thrushes whistle
Thunder roars, rolls,rumbles
Tigers growl, roar
Trumpets blare
Turkeys gobble
Vultures scream
Water ripples
Wolves howl, yelp
Vocabulary for Animal Movement Animal Diminutives List of Onomatopoeic Words