The action or sound of making repeated small chirps; a baby bird making its first chirping sounds.
From 'chirp' + '-ling' (diminutive suffix), or from the verb form 'chirp' + '-ing' (gerund). The '-ling' suffix suggests something small or young (like 'duckling'), while '-ing' nominalized creates the action noun.
The '-ling' suffix, which made words like 'duckling' and 'seedling,' shows how English used to love making diminutives but gradually lost that ability—now we just say 'small duck' instead of inventing new '-ling' words, which is why 'chirpling' sounds both charmingly old-fashioned and oddly tender.
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