homepage vocabulary
ANIMALS KINGDOM
Domestic Animals Wild Animals bird cat kitten cow calf cattle bull chicken hen rooster dog puppy donkey duck goat goose horse colt pet pig sheep lamb turkey rabbit doghouse saddle alligator ant bear cub beaver bee bug butterfly camel deer fawn dinosaur eagle elephant fish fox fly frog giraffe gorilla hippopotamus insect kangaroo lion monkey mouse rat shark snake spider squirrel tiger turtle whale wolf worm zebra zoo
diurnal occurring or active during, or belonging to, the daytime rather than nighttime. diversity the state or condition of being unlike; dissimilarity, a variety. extinction the act or process of becoming or making extinct, or of being ended or putting an end to. habitat the natural environment of a plant or animal. herbivore an animal that feeds on plants. invertebrate without a spinal column or backbone; not vertebrate. nocturnal active at night. predator an animal that eats the flesh of others. prey the object of a hunt or pursuit, usu. one animal caught and eaten by another. vertebrate a member of the large group of animals that have a backbone or spinal column, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fishes. carnivore a flesh-eating animal, esp. a meat-eating mammal. a plant that eats insects. conservation the preservation of a resource, esp. a natural resource such as soil, water, or forests, from loss, pollution, or waste
CATS
Cats are very popular PETS and there are many different BREEDS that all vary in size, colour and markings. An average cat reaches a length of 50-60 cm and weighs about 3-5 kg. The FUR may be black, white, brown, grey, red, black and white, tabby (stripped) or calico. Cats are very good hunters and use their strong, sharp claws and teeth to grab and hold their prey. In the wild, cats feed on mice, birds and other small animals. Cats see and hear extremely well. They can see in the dark and hear many sounds that humans are not able to hear. To feel their way round, cats use their WHISKERS. Cats say 'MEOW'. If they feel very comfortable, they PURR. If a cat is angry, it wags its tail, lowers its ears, and HISSES or GROWLS. Just watch your cat: eyes, ears, tail and body posture tell you a lot about how your cat feels.
ORCA (ORCINUS ORCA)
cetaceans	cetaceo
delphinidae (dolphins)	cetaceo della famiglia dei delfini
dorsal fin	pinna dorsale
mammal	mammifero
pod	piccolo gruppo di orche
toothed whales toothed	odontoceto dentato
vertebrates	vertebrato
whales	balene
Reaching up to ten metres in length, the orca is the largest member of the dolphin family. Most of its body is black, but you can distinguish some lighter areas: an elliptical white patch behind each eye, a grey saddle-patch behind the dorsal fin, a large white area on the belly and on the undersides of the flukes. Male orcas are easily identified by their tall dorsal fins, which are about 1.8 m in height. In female orcas, the dorsal fins are much smaller and more rounded.
Like most of the toothed whales, orcas are highly social animals. They live in family groups called pods. The size of a pod can vary from just a few animals to as many as fifty.
Orcas are found in all oceans, but mostly in cooler waters.
Do you know why orcas are sometimes called 'killer whales'? As orcas often attack and eat other whales, Spanish whalers called them 'whale killers'.
OTHER ANIMALS
armadillo: The armadillo has many small bony plates, each covered by a layer of skin. Only its "tummy" is bare and so when threatened, an armadillo will pull its legs in and curl itself into a ball. The armadillo almost looks more like a reptile than a mammal.
giraffe
King Penguin: The penguin is a bird that cannot fly in the air but flies through the water with great speed. Penguins have an organ above their eyes that changes seawater into fresh water. A long, long time ago some penguins once stood 5 feet tall and 300 pounds.
Peregrine Falcon: Peregrine falcons are known for their breath taking dives and incredibly fast flying speeds. They hunt mostly ducks and other swimming birds; falcons nesting on skyscrapers in big cities prey on pigeons. A test made on the visual powers of peregrine falcons showed that the birds could easily see a small bird over a mile away while the same prey could not be seen by a human through binoculars at a shorter distance.
Gray Wolf: The gray wolf is a social animal that lives in packs and mates for life. Except perhaps for Caribou, they probably travel more often and for greater distances than any other North American land animal. Wolves run with a bounding gait and their tail is held horizontally.
Barred Owl: The barred owl is a common owl in our region that prefers the quiet places of wooded swamps and forests. It has brownish gray "bars" running across its shoulders. You may have heard one of its calls that sounds like "who COOKS for You? Who COOKS for Y'all."
Passenger Pigeon: The last passenger pigeon on earth was named Martha. She died on September 1, 1914 in the Cincinnati Zoo. Less than a hundred years earlier, there were so many passenger pigeons in North America that a single flock could block out the sun for eight hours as it flew over a town.