Coloured ring on the leg, number clearly legible: if you have recovered a farm-reared bird in Allier, here is where to report it and what happens to the information. The page is also meant for the ACCAs, France's approved communal hunting associations, and for the Allier hunters' federation (FDC 03): it shows what is published and what never is. Allier is one of the 12 departments of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with Moulins as its prefecture.
Ring tracking in Allier
The Allier hunters' federation (FDC 03) does not use RingFollow at present. A ring found in Allier can still be reported: the report is recorded, and it will be validated by a federation, never by GIBIS. If the bird comes from a release in a department whose federation is registered, that federation validates the recovery; otherwise the report stays on file for Allier.
From photo to report
- Open bagues.gibis.fr on your phone and photograph the ring close up, in good light.
- Say where the bird was taken: the municipality is used for validation and never appears in public.
- State the species, red-legged partridge or hare for example, and if you know them, the sex and circumstances of the recovery.
- Send the report; name, phone and e-mail are optional, but an e-mail address gets you an acknowledgement.
Recoveries and reports in Allier
- No validated recovery has been located in Allier on RingFollow so far.
- The validation queue for Allier is empty.
- Nationwide, RingFollow records 85 ringed releases (3,592 birds) and 16 validated recoveries, across 5 participating federations.
The department at a glance
The European CORINE Land Cover inventory (2018) puts agricultural areas at 79% of the area and forests and semi-natural areas at 17%. The rest is shared between artificial surfaces (4%) and water bodies (1%). About 7,380 km², 317 municipalities and 333,298 inhabitants in 2022: those are the orders of magnitude. At 79%, the share of agricultural areas here is the highest among the department and its six neighbours. Besides Moulins, the prefecture, the department has two sub-prefectures: Montluçon and Vichy.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
The regional picture
Besides Allier, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region comprises Cantal, Ain, Rhône, Haute-Loire, Drôme, Savoie, Puy-de-Dôme, Isère, Haute-Savoie, Ardèche and Loire. Three of the 12 departments in the region have their federation on RingFollow: Ain, Isère and Haute-Loire (see the list by region). At 17%, the share of forests and semi-natural areas here is the lowest among the 12 departments of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Across the borders
Six departments border it: Cher to the north-west, Saône-et-Loire to the east, Nièvre to the north, Loire to the south-east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south and Creuse to the west. Beyond the regional boundary lie the regions of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Centre-Val de Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 56% (Puy-de-Dôme) to 73% (Cher), against 79% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). None of these neighbours tracks its rings on RingFollow; the nearest registered federation is in Haute-Loire, about 150 km to the south (centre to centre). Next come Ain (about 170 km) and Isère (about 225 km).
After you send it
The report is recorded as soon as it arrives, with the photo and the municipality given. The ring number is then matched against known releases; if one took place in a department whose federation is registered, that federation validates the recovery. If no release matches, the report is kept under department 03 and stays out of the public totals. Reports are kept for five hunting seasons after the recovery, then retained only in anonymised form for statistics (see the privacy policy).
Further reading
RingFollow tracks rings; breeding, species and restocking are covered on gibis.fr: game birds for restocking and red-legged and grey partridges.
What a reported ring is for
The recovery rate is the number of validated rings divided by the number of birds released. It only exists if hunters report, in Allier as elsewhere. For an example, see the review of the 2025 pheasant-poult operation (Infochasse mag' no. 72, in French).
Game-bird rings: common questions
How do I recognise a Gibis ring found in Allier?
A coloured, numbered leg ring, or a numbered coloured plastic wing tag, with no address. A ring engraved with an address belongs to another scheme: the guide explains where to report it.
Who validates a recovery reported in Allier?
A hunters' federation: the one for the department where the bird was originally released, if it is registered on RingFollow. The Allier hunters' federation (FDC 03) does not use RingFollow at present, and GIBIS never validates.
Will my name appear on the Allier page?
No. Public pages only show totals per department, never a count below 3; no hunter, ACCA or municipality is ever named.
Why are there no statistics for Allier?
A department's statistics are only published if its federation tracks its rings on RingFollow and at least 3 releases are recorded there. The Allier hunters' federation (FDC 03) does not use RingFollow at present.
Where do I report a pheasant ring found in Allier?
On bagues.gibis.fr, from a phone: a photo of the ring, the species and the municipality where the bird was taken are enough. No account is needed.
A federation that would like to track its rings
Hunter or ACCA official in Allier? You can raise it with your federation. All federations and their situation: Federations.
Few figures for Allier so far? See what a well-filled department page looks like (example with simulated data).