Noisy jackdaws make a racket as a form of "consensus decision-making".
Jackdaws 'vote' on when to take off
The birds are known for suddenly taking flight in their thousands, but a new study has suggested they only do so after louder and louder calls as a type of democracy.
Researching at the University of Exeter believe the cacophony is the animals casting their "vote" on when they should fly after roosting.
To reach their conclusion, the team recorded the rising news of calls happening before mass departures at roosts in Cornwall.
They then combined this when tests where the recordings were played at a colony.
Alex Dibnah - who led the study as part of a Masters by Research at the university's Penryn Campus - said: "After roosting in a large group at night, each jackdaw will have a slightly different preference about when they want to leave, based on factors like their size and hunger.
"However, it's useful to reach a consensus. Leaving the roost together has various benefits, including safety from predators and access to information such as where to find food.
"Our study shows that by calling out jackdaws effectively 'cast a vote' and, when calling reaches a sufficient level, a mass departure takes place."