Sounds and Calls of Animals and Birds for the Assam Police Constable (AB & UB) Exam
Questions on the sounds and calls of animals and birds belong to the vocabulary part of the General English paper, and they are among the most scoring questions in the whole section. The examiner gives the name of an animal or a bird and asks for the word that names the sound it makes, or gives the sound and asks which creature makes it. There is no passage to read and no rule to apply; the answer depends entirely on a clear and correctly grouped list. The difficulty is that many creatures share the same verb, that a few sounds have two accepted names, and that a small number of words look alike but belong to different animals. This page arranges the sounds by group, marks the shared words, explains the common confusions, and lists the high-yield pairs that repeat in the paper. The material follows the standard grammar and vocabulary reference books used for Assam recruitment examinations and is reviewed before it is published.
How This Portion Is Set
The examiner usually gives one animal and four possible sounds, or four animals and asks which one makes a given sound. Sometimes the question is reversed and the sound is given while the animal has to be supplied. In every case the answer comes from memory, so a well-grouped list is the whole of the preparation. Because the same words repeat across several animals, a candidate who groups by sound rather than by animal answers faster and with fewer mistakes.
Domestic Animals and Their Sounds
The sounds of the animals we see every day are asked most often.
- Dog barks; a puppy yelps; a dog also growls when it warns and whines when it is sad.
- Cat mews or meows; a kitten mews softly and a contented cat purrs.
- Cow moos or lows; a calf also moos; an ox bellows.
- Sheep, goat and lamb bleat; a ewe bleats.
- Horse neighs or whinnies; a foal also neighs.
- Donkey brays; a mule also brays.
- Pig grunts; a camel and a hippopotamus also grunt.
Wild Animals and Their Sounds
In the wild the same word often covers a whole family of animals.
- Lion roars; a roar is the deep sound of a lion.
- Tiger, bear, leopard, jaguar, panther and gorilla growl.
- Wolf and coyote howl.
- Fox yelps; a fox may also bark.
- Elephant trumpets; a rhinoceros snorts.
- Deer, buffalo, bison, moose and koala bellow; an alligator and a crocodile also bellow.
- Monkey chatters; a squirrel, a raccoon and a magpie also chatter.
- Snake hisses; a skunk, a vulture and a tortoise also hiss.
Birds and Their Calls
Bird calls carry some of the most pleasant and most frequently asked words.
- Hen clucks; a chick cheeps; a rooster crows.
- Duck quacks; a duckling also quacks.
- Goose, gander, swan and flamingo honk; a gosling also honks.
- Turkey gobbles.
- Owl hoots; a chimpanzee also hoots.
- Dove and pigeon coo.
- Cuckoo cuckoos; a sparrow, a grasshopper, a cricket and a canary chirp.
- Crow caws; a raven croaks; a peacock screams.
- Parrot, parakeet, macaw and penguin squawk.
- Hawk, eagle, falcon, bat and seagull screech.
Insects, Reptiles and Water Creatures
This group is small but it appears often enough to be learnt.
- Bee, fly, mosquito and wasp buzz.
- Frog and toad croak.
- Cicada sings; a whale sings.
- Dolphin clicks; a mouse, a rat and a rabbit squeak.
- Cockroach hisses.
- Hyena laughs; a llama hums.
Words Shared by Several Animals
A few sounds are so general that many creatures use them, and the paper likes to test exactly this overlap.
- Bark: dog, seal, sea lion, baboon and fox.
- Growl: tiger, bear, lion, leopard, jaguar, panther, gorilla and dog.
- Bleat: sheep, goat, lamb, ewe, kid and panda.
- Bellow: ox, deer, buffalo, bison, alligator, crocodile, moose and koala.
- Grunt: pig, camel and hippopotamus.
- Honk: goose, gander, swan, flamingo and gosling.
- Buzz: bee, fly, mosquito and wasp.
- Croak: frog, toad and raven.
- Chatter: monkey, squirrel, raccoon, magpie and myna.
- Screech: hawk, eagle, falcon, bat and seagull.
- Squawk: parrot, parakeet, macaw and penguin.
- Hiss: snake, skunk, vulture, cockroach and tortoise.
- Squeak: mouse, rat and rabbit.
- Chirp: sparrow, grasshopper, cricket, canary, cheetah and locust.
- Howl: wolf and coyote.
- Bray: donkey, mule and zebra.
- Hoot: owl and chimpanzee.
- Sing: whale and cicada.
- Coo: dove and pigeon.
More Than One Name for the Same Sound
Some creatures have two accepted words, and the candidate should recognise both. A dog barks and also growls and whines; a horse neighs and also whinnies; a cat mews and also meows and purrs; a fox yelps and also barks; a coyote and a wolf howl, and both may at times be said to yelp. When the paper offers two words that both seem right, the more precise and more common word is the intended answer.
Traps That Cost Marks
- Writing that a lion growls, when the exact word for a lion is roar.
- Forgetting that a raven croaks although a crow caws.
- Mixing the bleat of a goat with the neigh of a horse.
- Writing that a snake buzzes, when a snake hisses.
- Confusing the trumpet of an elephant with the honk of a goose.
- Using bark for a cat, when a cat mews.
High-Yield Pairs to Memorise
- Lion and roar; dog and bark; cat and mew.
- Cow and moo; horse and neigh; donkey and bray.
- Sheep and bleat; pig and grunt; elephant and trumpet.
- Hen and cluck; duck and quack; goose and honk.
- Owl and hoot; crow and caw; peacock and scream; cuckoo and cuckoo.
- Bee and buzz; frog and croak; snake and hiss.
A Revision Plan for This Block
- Make four columns: domestic, wild, birds, and insects and reptiles.
- Write every sound as a verb, as in "a dog barks", so the word is learnt in use.
- Mark the shared words with a star so that one word covers several animals.
- Revise one group a day and test yourself by covering the animal column.
- Revise the whole list twice a week and write one sentence for each sound.
Sounds Used in Sentences
The paper often tests a sound inside a sentence, and the candidate must supply the verb that fits the subject and the tense. A sentence may speak of a dog that barks at night, a cow that moos in the field, or an owl that hoots from a tree. Reading the sentence first, and asking which creature is named and what it does, answers the question more safely than recalling a list without looking at the context.
Frequently Asked Questions
What sound does a lion make?
A lion roars. The deep sound of a lion is called a roar, and it is the most commonly asked sound in this section.
What is the sound made by a snake called?
The sound made by a snake is called a hiss. A skunk, a vulture and a tortoise also hiss.
Which animals buzz?
A bee, a fly, a mosquito and a wasp buzz. The word buzz names the humming sound made by these insects.
What is the sound of a donkey called?
The sound of a donkey is called a bray. A mule and a zebra also bray.
What is the sound made by an elephant called?
The sound made by an elephant is called a trumpet. It is quite different from the honk of a goose or the bellow of a buffalo.