Why Cats "Chirp" At Birds, According to Science
Even the most indoor of domesticated cats still have natural hunting instincts, and these instincts are often the driving force behind many cat behaviors, both positive and negative. Chattering at birds is just one of those behaviors driven by your cat’s natural instincts.
As it is with most things feline, trying to ascertain why cats do the things they do is a lot of guesswork. Many behaviorists theorize that the act of chattering at a bird is a cat expressing pent-up frustrations at not being able to catch prey beyond their reach. Others theorize that this strange series of chirps and clacks is a response to a surge in adrenaline when the feline spots its prey. Some behaviorists speculate that the movement of a cat’s chattering jaws simulates the “death bite” and cats are just preparing for the final moment.
But it begs the question - why would an ambush predator that relies on stealth make noise, potentially ruining their hunt? Thanks to a troop of pied tamarin monkeys and a hungry wildcat, we might be one step closer to figuring out why cats chatter at birds.
Wildlife Conservation Society researcher Fabio Rohe was studying a group of these pied tamarin monkeys in their natural habitat in the Amazon forests of Brazil. Rohe and his fellow scientists were recording monkey vocalizations when a wildcat prowled onto the scene. The wildcat began making calls identical to those of the monkeys, mimicking their vocalizations; the first recorded instance of a wildcat in the Americas mimicking the sound of its prey.
The main theory? Cats may be lulling their prey into thinking they’re not a threat by imitating familiar sounds. “Don’t mind me! I’m just another monkey!” Or bird, for that matter! According to Rohes, the monkeys in his study were nearly fooled.
Rohe theorizes that all cats may be able to copy the vocalizations of their prey. And while cats are known for the physical abilities of their hunting, this vocal manipulation of prey species indicates a cunning which merits further study, he says.
My cat talks(chatters) to the birds. And the seem to talk back. She is usually laying down outside when they come and talk to her. LOL It is so cute. Today I got 2 birds that came and talk to her. It seems like a full conversation too.
Not all cats are bird-killers. Our neighbour has two ragdoll cats. They are mousers: one kindly delivered a mouse to our door.
The birds have zero concern about those ragdolls, and these cats show no interest in the birds.
But when a strange cat enters our garden, every bird in the vicinity squawks at the top of its voice. Such a racket!
Our Belgian Shepherd dog once mimicked human vocalisation. It was close enough for me to turn my head to make out the words: there were none that I could identify, but still it was one of the freakier of the several spontaneous, surprising things she did.
I believe that they are evolved to make the sound of the bird to identify and name them using the sound they make like a cow goes moo the owl goes hoot whoot.
I had a cat chirp at a bird it was weird, the bird actually was captivated and flew low and my cat grabbed the bird out of the air it was insane I’ve never seen anything like it or herd about it, mind you this was 1996. I never saw anything like it, it was really cool , this cat was a great hunter. I herd someone talking about it and I remembered so I thought to look up. From my experience they do to lure prey as I saw it happen I think it confuses birds and gives them a shot at them. I kinda thought the sound at the time interfered with their flight but really don’t know I just know what I saw and wish there were cell phones with cameras back then
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