The “middle” Loire boasts a wide range of natural environments that are key to maintaining a rich and diverse avifauna (all birds).
The natural environments are varied: open water, sandy shores, boires, riparian forests and hedgerows, alluvial woodlands, ponds and gravel pits, flood meadows… These biotopes enable each species to meet a number of vital requirements: nesting and reproduction, rest, food…
As a result, the Middle Loire presents major ornithological challenges:
- by regularly hosting over 20,000 waterbirds,
- with 42 species of European interest (Annex I species of the 1979 Birds Directive),
- by the presence of migratory species that are vulnerable but well represented locally (black-headed gull, osprey, little egret, etc.).
Nature guides from the Maisons de la Loire, the Centre des espaces naturels and local associations will help you identify them.
source : Val de Loire Mission

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