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We currently have four cats (sadly down from a one-time five-cat household), and at least three of our little guys would do this for birds. I’m actually pretty amazed that this behaviour, if actually performed by a cat, seems almost universally restricted to birds or perhaps the occasional rocketing squirrel.
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There’s a Mallard duck family that wanders my mom’s neighborhood, and the cats really want a crack at them. They chatter like crazy.
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See my earlier post…
Looking at the shape and placement of cats’ teeth, you’d never guess they could cut so fast, they seem optimized for gripping, holding and tearing. But then you look real close while a cat is making the wakka-wakka noise and it’s like one of those electric carving knives, almost too fast to see.
If you see it used in earnest, it’s quite impressive. A cat that knows what it’s doing can take the head clean off a bird or rodent in under a second.
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Mine does this at the dishwasher. It’s most pronounced when dealing with silverware and he feels that we’ve missed a feeding time.
Gratuitious picture of him coming out of a yawn, just because.
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It’s called chittering.
And yes, it’s adorable.
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We call it squeebling.
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Just contacting the mothership.
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Yup, this is the “I see something potentially tasty and moving” chirrup. It’s like an imaginary hunt.
I used to live in a house that backed on to a large nature reserve. One day my two Burmese were chirruping over the bottom bar of the screen door, but would occasionally stop and shrink behind the bar, before starting the chirruping again. They were ‘stalking’ a large falcon which was (a) holding a squealing sparrow under its claw; and (b) about as big as, say, a small Burmese.
They might like (to pretend) to hunt, but they also know a threat when they see it.
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I researched this at one time and it seems scientists themselves aren’t sure why cats do other than to agree it’s a response to potential that is out of reach. I think @anon78706664 's suggestion that it’s an evolutionary impulse that gets expressed in a weird way makes a lot of sense.
Not only will my cat do when looking at the window, my sister discovered that she will do it if we swing one of her toys (the rod ones with a mouse or tuft of feathers at the end of a string) in a circle above our heads. Here’s video of her doing just that. IF you turn up the volume you can hear the wooshing sound of the string spinning.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ktpntxosmwd00f6/Lilly%20Chirp.mp4?dl=0
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Interesting… I wonder if they’re envisioning tearing into said unattainable item and that leads to the chittering behaviour then…
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That’s my take.
Our new cat starts the “ack-ack” chattering when seeing his favorite birds just outside the window, unattainable. Since he was feral for the first year of his life, I figured it as his frustration about not being able to eat those fat little wrens.
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You love your baby, I know, and I know all kitties look like that under their fur… but my eyes aren’t used to naked cats.
That. video. is. terrifying.
I know, yes, he’s beautiful, I love cats, but …that behaviour coupled with his nekkidness…so strange.
Love your cats. So snuggly and pretty.
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