This may be a great example of how many people underestimate animal communities, as well as non-primate intelligence. I wouldn't be surprised if many other social birds have rich and complex social structures too.
I often think about how humans must have destroyed many societies of other species (such as whales, langurs, zebra) by reducing their numbers or fragmenting their habitat. What we observe in their behaviour now may be just a shadow of what once was (1). Maybe the same goes for guineafowl and other birds.
1) Grueter, C. C., Matsuda, I., Zhang, P., & Zinner, D. (2012). Multilevel societies in primates and other mammals: introduction to the special issue. International Journal of Primatology, 33(5), 993-1001.
