My old cat used to do that all the time when she was talking to birds or
bugs. I've since heard it's quite common.

Diane

Our male orange tabby makes these types of sounds. We also had another
orange tabby ( he passed away 3 months ago) who did the same thing, Our
Maine Coon never makes these sounds.

John Mc

Hi Abe,

I have a male 11 year old neutered grey tabby.  He does this purr chirping
all the time in different circumstances.  The times he does it the most is
when he is fully into being relaxed and is very receptive for affection
where he rolls over to give me his belly to pet.  Other times it's when I'm
holding him.  Other times it's when I'm feeding him a canned treat and he's
rubbing my legs like crazy.  Over the years, his purring has gotten louder
as well as the purr-chirps and the purr-chirps are more frequent.  It's
almost "feminine" sounding, but adorable.  My other two cats don't have this
purring feature, so it could be his particular breed or inherited mixture
blend.  I'm not sure why some cats have this sweet feature and others don't,
but all three of my cats have a different head/facial structure .. one has
the long siamese face, the other is an orange tabby .. all are male and
neutered as well.  What does it mean?  Well, my guess is he's being very
happy and sociable in a direct and personal way to you specifically at that
particular time.  He is being more open to your presence, attention and
affection.  For me, it is means it is special time to spend with him and he
will take all the affection I give him without any pushing away or
playfulness .. serious affection time is the message I get from him.  Very
receptive moments and he doesn't want any interruptions and "wants" my full
attention.  Almost like a catch up time out from life.

As someone told you, the sound is usually associated with hunting. Our
female places herself at the window observing the bird feeder. I have taught
her to make the chirrping sound when I come up behind her and whisper:
"Birrrrd?" or "Squirrel?". Most cats I have ever been around make this sound
when stalking.

There are two kinds of chirping that my cats do (and every cat I ever had)
One is when they are trying to attract a bird or other chirpy sound making
prey.. I think id like hunters using the duck sounding whistles. Then when
they get the prey's attention, they quiet down and go for the stalk. This
chirping sounds short, snappy and kind of deliberate. You'll see them do
when they see a bird.
The other chirp is more like a mrrrrr, Robin Cooks post described it quite
well! My kitties do that one when they're are looking for me or for each
other. I learned it too, and if I start doing it, they know to come to me.
Especially the female. You'll see female cats with kittens do that when
they're rounding up the kittens.

When cats get reall excited they make weird noises... like when an indoor cat sees an outside bird... I used to say mine was talking to him... but it would sound like a weird chirp noise...

you probably have a rreally happy and content cat on your hands... I wish all cats where as happy... there is so much neglect out there....
another post another time....