Is this common? Weird kind of meowing.

I noticed today that when my kitty is looking at the birds chirping outside the window, she meows in quiet a weiiird manner. As in its a vibrating meow, where her whole mouth is shaking. I really dont know how to describe it I guess you just have to see her doing it, but whenever she is observing the birds this weird thing happens. More than the sound its the way she does...its just WEIRD!!! Is this common? What is it? I

My cat chirps at birds when looking out the window at them. It is the funniest thing.

Very normal- it's an instinctual thing. My cat does it when the laser pointer is on the ceiling and he can't get at it, or if their is a bug he can't catch. Not all cats do it.

phew! Thanks!
Sorry for the obvious question then, but as this is my first pet i had no previous experience with kitties. I was a bit worried about this, I actually took out some of her favourite treats to hear her meow properly and she was back to her usual meooooowww....but that vibrating meow sorta freaked me out!

Maybe he`s doing "bird imitations" to try to fool the birds into thinking he`s one of them! :-)
Linda

For what it's worth, I've heard the behavior called "chattering". And when you think about it, that's exactly what it sounds like!

Ginger does those little silent meows at the birds too.
Its almost like she's inviting them down to 'play'

My mom's cat, Bubbles, used to "chatter" at the birds through the windows. I've never had a cat that did it, myself. But, I know what you're talking about and it is pretty amusing to watch/hear!

Dushka, Persil and NApoleon do the chatter thing. The others don't. It freaked me when I first heard it, too.

In "Catwatching", Desmond Morris says that chattering is actually "practicing" the death bite. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...545459-6998355

One of my cats does that to it's so cute, but she is also a master bird hunter, which isnt so cute.

My cat also gives the "Silent Meow" which is when they meow at you but no sound comes out!! I'd love to know what he is trying to tell me!!

When cats are very stimulated......usually visually.....some of them *chatter* like this. Ours will also do this if there is a bug on the ceiling. Just the other evening I was watching TV and noticed four cats sitting in the middle of the floor, very intently watching something on the ceiling and they would make rounds doing exactly the behavior you described......open mouthed.....kinda silently, with whiskers turned forward opening their mouths with no sound coming out. I got up and walked over and sure enough.......there, crawling across the ceiling was one of them dang imported lady bugs. It is really weird to see them doing this though.

My cat Pawsli does the same thing when she is watching squirrels out my window. It is a more silent meow and her whole throat kind of vibrates.

Sibohan chirps at Birds almost in a woody woodpecker sort of way... I like to think she's saying "come here bird, i'll be your friend".

Duke on the other hand dosn't mind about the birds but when you put him in his carrier to go anywhere he starts yelling like a small child crying for help "heeeooooowwwpppp" drives you batty being in a car with him for any great length of time.

This is a perfectly normal behavior, and it's so much fun to watch my girls chattering at birds outside the window! Sierra will do this, as well, when she spots an insect on the wall or ceiling! I then say "get it, baby, get it!" and she just chatters away! Such fun!