A ringed partridge or pheasant recovered in Loire-Atlantique only tells its story if the ring number is reported, and that takes a minute. RingFollow never publishes the name of a hunter, an ACCA (approved communal hunting association) or a municipality, nor any count below 3. On the administrative map, department 44 belongs to the Pays de la Loire region; its prefecture is Nantes.
Who validates recoveries in Loire-Atlantique?
The Loire-Atlantique hunters' federation (FDC 44) is not among the federations registered on RingFollow. 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 44.
Found a ring: what to do
- Start with a sharp photo of the ring: the number is read automatically, and you check it.
- Enter the municipality, Nantes 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 the report; name, phone and e-mail are optional, but an e-mail address gets you an acknowledgement.
Loire-Atlantique in figures
According to CORINE Land Cover, agricultural areas covered 79% of the department in 2018, artificial surfaces 10%. The rest is shared between forests and semi-natural areas (6%), wetlands (4%) and water bodies (2%). About 7,000 km², 207 municipalities and 1,487,570 inhabitants in 2022: those are the orders of magnitude. The share of artificial surfaces (10%) is higher here than in any of its four neighbours. Besides Nantes, the prefecture, the department has two sub-prefectures: Châteaubriant and Saint-Nazaire.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
One ring, one data point
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 Loire-Atlantique.
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. Without a match, the report stays on file for Loire-Atlantique, unpublished, until a federation can validate it. The public only sees totals per department; points on the national map are rounded to about 1 km.
The Pays de la Loire region and RingFollow
Besides Loire-Atlantique, the Pays de la Loire region comprises Vendée, Sarthe, Mayenne and Maine-et-Loire. None of the five departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the Federations page). At about 213 inhabitants per km², population density here is the highest among the five departments of the Pays de la Loire region.
Across the borders
Its neighbours are Ille-et-Vilaine to the north, Vendée to the south, Morbihan to the north-west and Maine-et-Loire to the east. Beyond the regional boundary lies the region of Brittany. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 74% (Morbihan) to 86% (Vendée), against 79% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). No federation registered on RingFollow lies within 400 km; all of them are listed on the Federations page.
The breeding side: gibis.fr
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.
RingFollow figures for Loire-Atlantique
- The count of validated recoveries in Loire-Atlantique still stands at zero.
- The validation queue for Loire-Atlantique is empty.
- Nationwide, RingFollow records 85 ringed releases (3,592 birds) and 16 validated recoveries, across 5 participating federations.
Your questions about Loire-Atlantique
Who validates a recovery reported in Loire-Atlantique?
A hunters' federation: the one for the department where the bird was originally released, if it is registered on RingFollow. The Loire-Atlantique hunters' federation (FDC 44) does not use RingFollow at present, and GIBIS never validates.
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.
How do I report a ringed partridge taken in Loire-Atlantique?
Just as for a pheasant: photo of the ring, number checked, species “red-legged partridge” or “grey partridge”, and the municipality. Nothing differs in Loire-Atlantique.
Why are there no statistics for Loire-Atlantique?
A department's statistics are only published if its federation tracks its rings on RingFollow and at least 3 releases are recorded there. The Loire-Atlantique hunters' federation (FDC 44) does not use RingFollow at present.
How long is a report from Loire-Atlantique 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.
A federation that would like to track its rings
Hunter or ACCA official in Loire-Atlantique? You can raise it with your federation. All federations and their situation: Federations.
To get an idea of a department page with its statistics, see the sample page (simulated data).