This page is for anyone who hunts in Aveyron and finds a ring on a pheasant or partridge: where to report it, who validates it, and what is known about the department. Reports are useful to the ACCAs (approved communal hunting associations) and federations that organise releases; the public only ever sees totals per department. On the administrative map, department 12 belongs to the Occitania region; its prefecture is Rodez.
Who validates recoveries in Aveyron?
The Aveyron hunters' federation (FDC 12) does not use RingFollow at present. Nothing changes for the hunter: the report is made the same way, and federations, not GIBIS, validate recoveries. 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 Aveyron.
Reporting a ring found in Aveyron
- Photograph the ring, on the leg or once removed; if the number runs all the way round, take several shots.
- Say where the bird was taken: the municipality is used for validation and never appears in public.
- If the bird carries a wing tag rather than a leg ring, say so at the same step, together with the species.
- Send: with no signal, the report goes out on its own as soon as coverage returns.
Neighbouring departments
Its neighbours are Lozère to the east, Gard to the east, Hérault to the south-east, Cantal to the north, Tarn to the south-west, Lot to the north-west and Tarn-et-Garonne to the west. Beyond the regional boundary lies the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 26% (Lozère) to 78% (Tarn-et-Garonne), against 59% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). The nearest department whose federation tracks its rings on RingFollow is Haute-Loire, about 130 km to the north-east as the crow flies between department centres. Next come Isère (about 255 km) and Ain (about 290 km).
Key facts about Aveyron
According to CORINE Land Cover, agricultural areas covered 59% of the department in 2018, forests and semi-natural areas 38%. The rest is mostly artificial surfaces (2%). About 8,780 km², 285 municipalities and 279,609 inhabitants in 2022: those are the orders of magnitude. Its arrondissements are administered from Rodez (prefecture), Millau and Villefranche-de-Rouergue.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
What next?
Once sent, the report is kept; if you left an e-mail address, an acknowledgement follows. 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. Without a match, the report stays on file for Aveyron, unpublished, until a federation can validate it. Reports are kept for five hunting seasons after the recovery, then retained only in anonymised form for statistics (see the privacy policy).
The breeding side: gibis.fr
RingFollow tracks rings; breeding, species and restocking are covered on gibis.fr: game birds for restocking and red-legged and grey partridges.
Within the Occitania region
The other departments of the region are Lozère, Tarn-et-Garonne, Tarn, Aude, Gers, Lot, Hérault, Hautes-Pyrénées, Gard, Ariège, Pyrénées-Orientales and Haute-Garonne. None of the 13 departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the Federations page).
What a reported ring is for
Every recovery reported gives a date, a distance and a species. Added together, they give an operation's recovery rate and how far the birds disperse after release: enough to adjust future releases in Aveyron.
What the rings say in Aveyron
- No validated recovery has been located in Aveyron on RingFollow so far.
- No report linked to the department is awaiting validation.
- Nationwide, RingFollow records 85 ringed releases (3,592 birds) and 16 validated recoveries, across 5 participating federations.
Your questions about Aveyron
What if the ring number is illegible?
Take several well-lit photos from different angles, then correct the suggested number if needed. The photos stay attached to the report for the validating federation.
Why are there no statistics for Aveyron?
A department's statistics are only published if its federation tracks its rings on RingFollow and at least 3 releases are recorded there. The Aveyron hunters' federation (FDC 12) does not use RingFollow at present.
Where do I report a pheasant ring found in Aveyron?
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.
How long is a report from Aveyron kept?
Five hunting seasons, the duration of the restocking study. After that it is kept only in anonymised form, without contact details or licence number.
Does GIBIS validate reports from Aveyron?
No, never. Recoveries are validated by the federation of the department where the bird was released, if it is registered on RingFollow.
For federations
The situation of every federation is on the Federations page. A federation that would like to track its recoveries can write to gibis@gibis.fr.
To get an idea of a department page with its statistics, see the sample page (simulated data).