A ringed partridge or pheasant recovered in Dordogne only tells its story if the ring number is reported, and that takes a minute. Reports are useful to the ACCAs (approved communal hunting associations) and federations that organise releases; the public only ever sees totals per department. Part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, which has 12 departments, the department is administered from Périgueux.
Validating recoveries in Dordogne
For department 24, no federation uses RingFollow at present. A ring found in Dordogne 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 24.
Reporting a ring found in Dordogne
- Start with a sharp photo of the ring: the number is read automatically, and you check it.
- Choose the municipality where the bird was taken, from the 503 in Dordogne: it locates the recovery but is never published.
- If the bird carries a wing tag rather than a leg ring, say so at the same step, together with the species.
- Send the report; name, phone and e-mail are optional, but an e-mail address gets you an acknowledgement.
The department at a glance
Land cover in 2018 (CORINE Land Cover): agricultural areas lead with 52%, followed by forests and semi-natural areas (45%). The rest is mostly artificial surfaces (3%). With 417,614 inhabitants (INSEE, 2022 population count) on about 9,220 km², the density is roughly 45 inhabitants per km²; the department has 503 municipalities. Besides Périgueux, the prefecture, the department has three sub-prefectures: Bergerac, Nontron and Sarlat-la-Canéda.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
The regional picture
The other departments of the region are Landes, Vienne, Haute-Vienne, Deux-Sèvres, Gironde, Creuse, Charente-Maritime, Charente, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Corrèze and Lot-et-Garonne. None of the 12 departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the regional overview).
Around Dordogne
Its neighbours are Corrèze to the east, Lot-et-Garonne to the south, Gironde to the west, Charente-Maritime to the north-west, Haute-Vienne to the north-east, Charente to the north-west and Lot to the south-east. Beyond the regional boundary lies the region of Occitania. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 37% (Gironde) to 76% (Charente-Maritime), against 52% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). None of these neighbours tracks its rings on RingFollow; the nearest registered federation is in Haute-Loire, about 240 km to the east (centre to centre). Next come Ain (about 375 km) and Isère (about 380 km).
From report to validation
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 24 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).
What the rings say in Dordogne
- So far, RingFollow has no validated recovery taken in Dordogne.
- 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.
Why report a recovery
The recovery rate is the number of validated rings divided by the number of birds released. It only exists if hunters report, in Dordogne as elsewhere. For an example, see the review of the 2025 pheasant-poult operation (Infochasse mag' no. 72, in French).
Breeding and restocking
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.
Your questions about Dordogne
Who validates a recovery reported in Dordogne?
A hunters' federation: the one for the department where the bird was originally released, if it is registered on RingFollow. The Dordogne hunters' federation (FDC 24) does not use RingFollow at present, and GIBIS never validates.
Why are there no statistics for Dordogne?
A department's statistics are only published if its federation tracks its rings on RingFollow and at least 3 releases are recorded there. The Dordogne hunters' federation (FDC 24) does not use RingFollow at present.
Should a ring engraved with an address, found in Dordogne, be reported here?
No. RingFollow only covers game-farm rings, which carry no address. Rings from scientific ringing schemes are reported to those schemes; this site's guide tells you more.
How long is a report from Dordogne 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.
Can I report a ring without a mobile signal in Dordogne?
Yes. The form keeps the report on the phone and sends it as soon as coverage returns, wherever you are in Dordogne.
A federation that would like to track its rings
A registered federation validates the recoveries in its own department and can export its data. Full list: Federations; contact: gibis@gibis.fr.
Few figures for Dordogne so far? See what a well-filled department page looks like (example with simulated data).