Management-Related Traffic as a Stressor Eliciting Parental Care in a Roadside-Nesting Bird: The European Bee-Eater Merops apiaster.

Traffic is often acknowledged as a threat to biodiversity, but its effects have been mostly studied on roads subjected to high traffic intensity. The impact of lower traffic intensity such as those affecting protected areas is generally neglected, but conservation-oriented activities entailing motorized traffic could paradoxically transform suitable habitats into ecological traps. Here we questioned whether roadside-nesting bee-eaters Merops apiaster perceived low traffic intensity as a stressor eliciting risk-avoidance behaviors (alarm calls and flock flushes) and reducing parental care.