A bird taken in Côte-d'Or carries a coloured, numbered ring? That number is enough to trace it back to its release, whether you hunt near Dijon or in any of the department's 698 municipalities. The page is also meant for the ACCAs, France's approved communal hunting associations, and for the Côte-d'Or hunters' federation (FDC 21): it shows what is published and what never is. Côte-d'Or is one of the eight departments of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, with Dijon as its prefecture.
Validating recoveries in Côte-d'Or
The Côte-d'Or hunters' federation (FDC 21) does not use RingFollow at present. A ring found in Côte-d'Or can still be reported: the report is recorded, and it will be validated by a federation, never by GIBIS. The ring number leads back to the original release: if the federation of the department where it took place is registered, it validates; if not, the report waits, filed under department 21.
Reporting in four steps
- Start with a sharp photo of the ring: the number is read automatically, and you check it.
- 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 it. For 24 hours you can still remove or add a photo.
Why report a recovery
ACCAs and federations fund releases; rings are the only way to know what they yield in the field. Consolidated figures are public on the Statistics page, by department.
The breeding side: gibis.fr
Species, delivery and release planning are a matter for the breeder: see game birds for restocking and red-legged and grey partridges on gibis.fr.
Key facts about Côte-d'Or
The European CORINE Land Cover inventory (2018) puts agricultural areas at 59% of the area and forests and semi-natural areas at 37%. The rest is mostly artificial surfaces (4%). INSEE counts 698 municipalities and 540,100 inhabitants (2022 population count) over about 8,800 km². At 698, the number of municipalities here is the highest among the department and its seven neighbours. Besides Dijon, the prefecture, the department has two sub-prefectures: Beaune and Montbard.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
The Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region and RingFollow
The other departments of the region are Doubs, Nièvre, Territoire de Belfort, Jura, Yonne, Saône-et-Loire and Haute-Saône. None of the eight departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the regional overview).
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 Côte-d'Or, unpublished, until a federation can validate it. No hunter, ACCA or municipality is ever named: only totals per department and points rounded to about 1 km.
Côte-d'Or and its neighbours
Its neighbours are Saône-et-Loire to the south, Jura to the south-east, Yonne to the north-west, Haute-Saône to the east, Haute-Marne to the north-east, Nièvre to the west and Aube to the north-west. Beyond the regional boundary lies the region of Grand Est. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 45% (Jura) to 72% (Saône-et-Loire), against 59% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). None of these neighbours tracks its rings on RingFollow; the nearest registered federation is in Ain, about 155 km to the south (centre to centre). Next come Isère (about 250 km) and Haute-Loire (about 265 km).
What the rings say in Côte-d'Or
- The count of validated recoveries in Côte-d'Or still stands at zero.
- No report linked to the department is awaiting validation.
- For comparison, all of France: 3,592 ringed birds in 85 releases and 16 validated recoveries (5 participating federations); details on the Statistics page.
Your questions about Côte-d'Or
Which neighbouring departments track their rings on RingFollow?
None of its direct neighbours. The nearest registered federation is in Ain, about 155 km away between department centres.
Who validates a recovery reported in Côte-d'Or?
A hunters' federation: the one for the department where the bird was originally released, if it is registered on RingFollow. The Côte-d'Or hunters' federation (FDC 21) does not use RingFollow at present, and GIBIS never validates.
How do I recognise a Gibis ring found in Côte-d'Or?
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.
Can I report a ring without a mobile signal in Côte-d'Or?
Yes. The form keeps the report on the phone and sends it as soon as coverage returns, wherever you are in Côte-d'Or.
How long is a report from Côte-d'Or 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.
Registering a federation
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.
Few figures for Côte-d'Or so far? See what a well-filled department page looks like (example with simulated data).