Doesn't explain why murmurations start, but y'all might like reading about swarm theory. It's an elegant explanation of animal behavior covering ants and bees to wildebeest herds. There's a great Natural Geographic article on this I read in the magazine ages ago.
I expected great new tech from this understanding, not sure much has been done. In the article they talked about an tanker company whose computer chugged all night calculating the next day's routes. Drivers were annoyed to find themselves driving past delivery points to hit further places. Check it for yourselves!