Coloured ring on the leg, number clearly legible: if you have recovered a farm-reared bird in Loiret, here is where to report it and what happens to the information. Reports are useful to the ACCAs (approved communal hunting associations) and federations that organise releases; the public only ever sees totals per department. Loiret is one of the six departments of the Centre-Val de Loire region, with Orléans as its prefecture.
Validating recoveries in Loiret
The Loiret hunters' federation (FDC 45) does not use RingFollow at present. Reporting remains possible and useful: the recovery is recorded, then reviewed by a federation; GIBIS plays no part in the validation. 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 45.
From photo to report
- 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 325 in Loiret: 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: with no signal, the report goes out on its own as soon as coverage returns.
The department at a glance
The European CORINE Land Cover inventory (2018) puts agricultural areas at 66% of the area and forests and semi-natural areas at 27%. The rest is shared between artificial surfaces (6%) and water bodies (1%). About 6,810 km², 325 municipalities and 691,268 inhabitants in 2022: those are the orders of magnitude. Its arrondissements are administered from Orléans (prefecture), Montargis and Pithiviers.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
What the rings say in Loiret
- So far, RingFollow has no validated recovery taken in Loiret.
- 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.
Across the borders
Its neighbours are Cher to the south, Eure-et-Loir to the north-west, Loir-et-Cher to the south-west, Essonne to the north, Yonne to the east, Seine-et-Marne to the north-east and Nièvre to the south-east. Beyond the regional boundary lie the regions of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Île-de-France. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 52% (Essonne) to 84% (Eure-et-Loir), against 66% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). The nearest department whose federation tracks its rings on RingFollow is Ain, about 305 km to the south-east as the crow flies between department centres. Next come Haute-Loire (about 330 km) and Isère (about 385 km).
Within the Centre-Val de Loire region
Besides Loiret, the Centre-Val de Loire region comprises Eure-et-Loir, Cher, Loir-et-Cher, Indre-et-Loire and Indre. None of the six departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the list by region). At about 102 inhabitants per km², population density here is the highest among the six departments of the Centre-Val de Loire region.
One ring, one data point
The recovery rate is the number of validated rings divided by the number of birds released. It only exists if hunters report, in Loiret as elsewhere. For an example, see the review of the 2025 pheasant-poult operation (Infochasse mag' no. 72, in French).
From report to validation
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 Loiret, 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.
Further reading
RingFollow tracks rings; breeding, species and restocking are covered on gibis.fr: game birds for restocking and red-legged and grey partridges.
Frequently asked questions
Who validates a recovery reported in Loiret?
A hunters' federation: the one for the department where the bird was originally released, if it is registered on RingFollow. The Loiret hunters' federation (FDC 45) does not use RingFollow at present, and GIBIS never validates.
How do I report a ringed partridge taken in Loiret?
Just as for a pheasant: photo of the ring, number checked, species “red-legged partridge” or “grey partridge”, and the municipality. Nothing differs in Loiret.
How do I recognise a Gibis ring found in Loiret?
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.
Which neighbouring departments track their rings on RingFollow?
None of its direct neighbours. The nearest registered federation is in Ain, about 305 km away between department centres.
How long is a report from Loiret 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
Hunter or ACCA official in Loiret? You can raise it with your federation. All federations and their situation: Federations.
Few figures for Loiret so far? See what a well-filled department page looks like (example with simulated data).