Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US) of humans, to shout, to yell; of animals, to shriek.

1892		S. Crane in N.-Y. Trib. 10 July in Stallman (1966) 4: [He] began to yell, and ki-yi, and whoop.
1940		F. Hunt Long Trail from Texas 14: He wanted to ki-yi, but he knew that might frighten the herd.
1970		E. Hoagland ‘War in the Woods’ in Courage of Turtles 61: We drove back to the notable white pine at the end of Bear Alley, where we had listened to the dogs ki-yiing in the screen of trees.