Seabirds are able to pick out their relatives from smell alone, according to scientists.
In a "recognition test", European storm petrels chose to avoid the scent of a relative in favour of approaching the smell of an unrelated bird.
The researchers think this behaviour prevents the birds from "accidentally inbreeding".
The study is the first evidence that birds are able to sniff out a suitable mate.
It is published in the journal Animal Behaviour.
Lead researcher Francesco Bonadonna, from the Centre of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology in Montpellier, France, told BBC Nature that the birds used smell to recognise and communicate their "genetic compatibility".
Sniffing out a genetically suitable mate is a well-known phenomenon in mammals. But until recently, scientists thought that birds relied on vision and sound when choosing a partner.
According to Dr Bonadonna, the fact that they use odours explains how these birds manage to return to their family colony to breed and avoid mating with a relative.
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