A bird taken in Finistère carries a coloured, numbered ring? That number is enough to trace it back to its release, whether you hunt near Quimper or in any of the department's 277 municipalities. 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 Brittany region, which has four departments, the department is administered from Quimper.
Who validates recoveries in Finistère?
The Finistère hunters' federation (FDC 29) does not use RingFollow at present. Nothing changes for the hunter: the report is made the same way, and federations, not GIBIS, validate recoveries. 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 29.
Reporting a ring found in Finistère
- Photograph the ring, on the leg or once removed; if the number runs all the way round, take several shots.
- Enter the municipality, Quimper or any other in the department; no municipality is ever shown publicly.
- 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.
What the rings say in Finistère
- The count of validated recoveries in Finistère still stands at zero.
- 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.
After you send it
The report is recorded as soon as it arrives, with the photo and the municipality given. Next comes the matching: does the ring belong to a recorded release? If so, and if that department's federation is registered, it reviews the recovery. If no release matches, the report is kept under department 29 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).
Neighbouring departments
Two departments border it: Côtes-d'Armor to the east and Morbihan to the south-east. All its neighbours belong, like the department itself, to the Brittany region. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 74% (Morbihan) to 83% (Côtes-d'Armor), against 77% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). No federation registered on RingFollow lies within 400 km; all of them are listed on the Federations page.
One ring, one data point
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.
Breeding and restocking
The ringed birds tracked here come from the GIBIS game farm in Chatte (Isère). For the pheasant strain, see PUR CHASSE® pheasants; for restocking in general, restocking game birds.
The regional picture
Besides Finistère, the Brittany region comprises Côtes-d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan. None of the four departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the list by region).
Finistère in figures
According to CORINE Land Cover, agricultural areas covered 77% of the department in 2018, forests and semi-natural areas 13%. The rest is mostly artificial surfaces (9%). About 6,770 km², 277 municipalities and 933,455 inhabitants in 2022: those are the orders of magnitude. At 9%, the share of artificial surfaces here is the highest among the department and its two neighbours. Besides Quimper, the prefecture, the department has three sub-prefectures: Brest, Châteaulin and Morlaix.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
Frequently asked questions
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.
Which neighbouring departments track their rings on RingFollow?
None of its neighbours, and no federation within 400 km. The full list is on the Federations page.
Can I report a ring without a mobile signal in Finistère?
Yes. The form keeps the report on the phone and sends it as soon as coverage returns, wherever you are in Finistère.
Does GIBIS validate reports from Finistère?
No, never. Recoveries are validated by the federation of the department where the bird was released, if it is registered on RingFollow.
Do I have to give my name to report a ring in Finistère?
No. Name, phone and e-mail are optional; an e-mail address only gets you an acknowledgement. Only the validating federation sees what you leave.
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.
To get an idea of a department page with its statistics, see the sample page (simulated data).