Your Maine Coon is happily chatting with you, but they aren’t meowing at all—they are making strange bird noises. This sound is a signature “chirrup” that Maine Coon lovers experience all over the world as peculiar to this lovable breed. However, you might wonder why your Maine Coon chirrups instead of an old-fashioned meow.
Maine Coon’s chirrup instead of meow because they are seeking contact or sending a message of their location. Mother cats use the chirrup with their kittens in the nest or when approaching their babies from another location. Chirrups are affectionate sounds that prompt contact and affectionately engage your attention.
Domestic cats evolved a language of meows, chirps, tweedles, and trills to communicate their wants and needs to their beloved humans. However, there is more to a Maine Coon’s signature chirrup than meet the ear! Let’s take a deep dive into why Maine Coons chirrup instead of meow.
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4 Reasons Maine Coon’s Chirrup Instead of Meow
Maine Coons tend to make bird rather than cat noises because they are expressing a different intent and emotion. Meows are general contact all and may encompass a variety of emotions.
Chirrups, on the other hand, are highly affectionate sounds stemming from a mother’s call to her kittens. Think about the difference as someone calling you by your name or an endearment like “Hi, love!”
Maine Coons often meow, but they have so many variations on the ordinary meow some cat lovers think they speak another language. There are several reasons why your MC is so chatty and seems to chirrup around the house like a catbird. Let’s explore some of these reasons.
1. Your Maine Coon Has Spotted Prey
Maine coons seem to love to sing at their intended supper. When your Maine Coon is at a window, a particularly plump and pleasing sparrow or dove may parade its delicious body on your bird feeder. Chances are your MC will chirrup along with what experts call ‘chatter.”
This chatter happens when your Maine Coon spots a birdie or other prey and starts making clicking sounds with tiny juddering jaw movements.
Like they are invoking some kind of ancient Maine Coon prayer, they WILL go into a sort of trance and chirrup and chatter away to their prey. Like some kibble-nibbling Svengali, some Maine Coons seem to be hypnotizing their intended victim to come closer!
This display is hilarious, but besides its funniness, there may be something unexpected behind the chatter/chirrup.
Some experts have suggested that the feline is mimicking their chosen prey! A study of wildcats in the Amazon Basin found that the native wildcats mimicked the calls of their favorite prey, the Tamarin monkeys. This evolutionary adaptation may be a brilliant means to lure their prey closer or soothe their intended lunch with familiar sounds as they draw nearer!
I have a very strong feeling that Halo, My Maine Coon is working out a list of exactly what he is going to do to the poor sparrow if he gets his XL claws on it. I imagine the translation:
Hey, hey, sweet. Yes. You. You there! On those two hand-made. Cocktail. Sticks. Come. I said Come. I won’t. Hurt You. Look. I’m Just a Bird. Too! Let’s Play. Come Play. Look here! I’m your Best Friend. Hurry! Hurry! So Lonely!
Have a look at these beauties chattering and chirping at the tasty birds:
2. Your MC Is Asking for Something
Mother cats will use the chirp and chirrup sequence to communicate with their young while in the nest and when they return to their nest from being away. So, the sound most likely locates her kittens, like an assurance statement or a contact call—something like “hello” or “Are you there?”
Your Maine Coon may also use the chirrup or chirp to engage your attention and usually expresses some form of request, such as seeking attention or play.
3. Maine Coons Are Very Vocal Cats
Although Maine Coon communication isn’t as well known (beyond MC’s human families), the breed is more talkative in general than most cat breeds. Although they won’t wrestle the title from the chatterbox Siamese cat, they are keen to converse with their loved ones.
Most Maine Coon lovers will tell you that their gentle giants are genuine chatterboxes. Their involvement in your daily movements across your home will likely involve a series of questions or comments from your trusty feline sidekick.
They will respond to your questions or statements like a human in a conversation. However, their answers are usually yes and no, so don’t expect a lengthy explanation!
Maine Coons will often enter into question-and-answer sessions most willingly, as seen in this YouTube video below.
4. Maine Coons Like To Be Involved in Their Human’s Activities
Maine Coons have to have a paw in whatever their human’s business. Although they might not be the top lap cats, they are highly involved in our human affairs. Halo is like my talkative shadow, following me from room to room, curious about what I am getting up to.
It is in Maine Coons nature to be present and sociable, and they often use chirps or chirrups to remind us of their presence should we get too distracted with our confounding human things.
What Is a Maine Coon Chirrup?
Your Maine Coon has a larynx, like we do, which is a small structure that sits in the back of their mouth and opens onto their windpipe or trachea. The larynx or voice box is a group of cartilages that stretch and relax when your cat makes a sound and protects their lungs from food particles when eating.
A Maine Coon chirrup is a complex sound and is a variation of the feline “chirp.” You will be forgiven for mistaking your furry friend for a sparrow when a cat chirps. The chirp is a high-pitched sound with an upward lilt in tone at the end of the sound. When your Maine Coon strings his chirps together in a row—he is chirruping!
The chirrup is a friendly sound often made by mommy cats around their kittens or approaching their nest after leaving their kitties. Essentially it is one of the love sounds so peculiar to the Maine Coon breed and usually a request for contact from their much-loved humans.
There may be variations on the chirp and chirrup meanings. My Maine Coon, Halo, often chirps at me when he enters a room as his chirrup roughly translates to “wussup” or “sup?”
Other times, he is lightly accusatory when he chirps and raises his tone slightly. He makes a series of chirrups that seem to translate as, “Hey, woman, who’s a cat gotta claw to get some attention around here?”
Although all cats can chirp, some won’t make the sound, and others sound like a furry bag full of chickadees. However, chirrups are one of those peculiar traits of the Maine Coon breed that you want to squeeze like a toddler with their favorite binky.
If you want to hear a cat chirp, here is a perfect close listen:
The Secret World of Maine Coon Communication
Animal behaviorists tend to group chat communication into three categories:
- Sounds made with the mouth held open and tense
- Sounds made with mouth opening and closing
- Sounds made with the mouth closed
According to experts, cats have the most varied and diverse communication sounds of the Carnivora order. Although most accept that cats have 21 different vocalizations, these vocalizations can occur in multiple varieties, and particular patterns and combinations reflect each unique situation.
Chirps and chirrups are mostly part of the open and tensed mouth category, and this sound is a specific hallmark of talkative Maine Coons.
Maine Coons Meow at Humans and Not Each Other
The vocal range of our beloved Maine Coons and domestic cats, in general, is a result of domestication and very much based on their relationship to humans. Meows and chirrups are rare in feral cat colonies but are part of everyday communication in a cat-human relationship.
Domestic cat vocalizations also differ from feral cat sounds in duration, pitch, and melody. Most scientific studies suggest that our cat’s vocalizations are a direct product of domestication and human socialization.
Even more so, empathetic cat owners can isolate the difference between the various cat vocalizations to a rather uncanny degree. A study found that cat lovers can interpret recorded cat sounds with an uncanny specificity. Cats with devoted and empathetic owners tended to display a wider variety of vocalizations.
Gender also seems to play a role in understanding cat language, as studies show that women can interpret cat meow intent better than their male counterparts.
Cats Chat More When Owners Baby Talk
In a fascinating study at Paris Nanterre University, researchers found that cats could recognize and respond to their owners’ voices over strangers. They also preferred the high-pitched baby talk many of us use when chatting with our furry family.
This study highlights that cats can filter out unnecessary human vocalizations, such as unfamiliar humans who use identical tones and words.
Older Cats Have Deeper Voices
Some exciting studies show that young cats, like humans, tend to vocalize in the higher registers, like kiddies and adults. Cats also tend to lilt their tone upwards when asking for something and inflect their voices downward to express discontent. Thus, science seems to have caught on to what we have known for years—cats relay their emotions through vocalizations.
What Other Sounds Do Maine Coon Make?
Cats quite have an extensive vocabulary. They are unusual in the world of carnivores, with a vast range of vocal clues. Some experts suggest domestic cats have an enlarged vocabulary because they hunt in low-light conditions.
They have almost double the vocabulary when you compare your cat’s vocalizations to a dog. A 21 to 10 win for the cats!
Here are some of the most common sounds, leaving out the most obvious, such as purrs, hisses, and mating-related sounds.
| Cat Vocalization Type | Sound of Vocalization | Purpose |
| Mowl or Caterwaul | A long, drawn-out whine, almost like a yowl | Tom cat mating call, female warning sounds |
| Moan | A long O or U sound is delivered slowly | Aggressive sound to warn off a threat or signal danger |
| Chatter | An almost silent sound made with chatter in a cat’s jaws, creating a rhythmic smacking sound | Sound made when observing prey or when in unfamiliar territory |
| Chirp/Chirrup | A brief, high-pitched sound similar to a bird chirp. When delivered in a sequence, they become chirrups | This sound is a contact request when your cat wants something. It can also be the sound a mother cat makes in or approaching her kittens |
| Trills | Elaboration and variations of a purr delivered in a soft voice | Greeting call |
| Tweedle | An extended chirp or tweet with some voice modulation | A sound to indicate your Maine Coon desires something |
| Tweet | Softer, weaker chirps with a vowel-like quality | A sound to indicate your Maine Coon desires something |
| Squeak | A raspy, high-pitched sound through the nose, somewhat mew-like | Invitation to play or seek food |
| Murmur | A softly called trill or purr made in the throat | A friendly sound or invitation to play |
Closing Chirps
Chirrups are a natural part of the domesticated cat’s repertoire of vocalizations, and you can even find chirrups in the Cheetah Family. However, the Maine Coon seems to have an accent that sets them apart. Think of it as a feline Eastern New England accent, like people from Boston, and enjoy the sweet bird music your MC makes just for you!
