The valley of the Charente upstream from Angoulême is a Natura 2000 zone with remarkable species: 64 species of birds. Among them are species for marshland and wetland; and at Angoulême it is common to see wildfowl including mute swan, black-necked grebe, little grebe, horned grebe, great crested grebe, greylag goose, gadwall, pintail, Eurasian wigeon, shoveler, garganey, teal and common pochard, tufted duck on the Charente. It is more rare to see waders. Terns and great cormorants return during periods of storms from far upstream on the river.