💡 Grammar Note 1 (Stressed “A” Rule with el águila): Like el agua, the word águila is actually a feminine noun (e.g., el águila imperial, el águila blanca). However, because it begins with a stressed vowel á, it takes the singular masculine article el (or un) to prevent cacophony. In the plural or with other determiners, it reverts to feminine: las águilas, esta águila.

💡 Grammar Note 2 (Epicene Nouns for Animal Genders): Many animal species use a single grammatical gender regardless of the animal’s biological sex (called epicene nouns):

• la jirafa (female: la jirafa hembra / male: la jirafa macho)
• el delfín (female: el delfín hembra / male: el delfín macho)
• el cocodrilo, el tiburón, and la cebra work the same way.

In contrast, other animals have distinct gendered pairs: el león / la leona, el caballo / la yegua, and el toro / la vaca.