171 - Panorama over the Allier (waymark no. 20)

The birds of prey of the gorges: The Allier gorges are home to many species, which reveal themselves to the observer across complementary habitats: forests, heathland and rocky sites. Many species of birds of prey can be glimpsed here. Unlike on the plateau, you will see the hen harrier, whiter than its cousin, the black kite, the hobby, and above all the short-toed snake eagle, the snake-eating eagle, which frequents the sunny sites and stony heathland of the gorges to take several hundred reptiles each summer. Its cousin the golden eagle, long persecuted like all birds of prey, sadly disappeared from the Rocher de l'Aigle at Vabres in 1958; the species has not been present in Auvergne since that date.