This page is for anyone who hunts in Orne and finds a ring on a pheasant or partridge: where to report it, who validates it, and what is known about the department. Reports are useful to the ACCAs (approved communal hunting associations) and federations that organise releases; the public only ever sees totals per department. Orne is one of the five departments of the Normandy region, with Alençon as its prefecture.
Ring tracking in Orne
The Orne hunters' federation (FDC 61) is not among the federations registered on RingFollow. A ring found in Orne can still be reported: the report is recorded, and it will be validated by a federation, never by GIBIS. If the bird comes from a release in a department whose federation is registered, that federation validates the recovery; otherwise the report stays on file for Orne.
From photo to report
- Start with a sharp photo of the ring: the number is read automatically, and you check it.
- Enter the municipality, Alençon or any other in the department; no municipality is ever shown publicly.
- Pick the species from the list (hare, pheasant, grey partridge and red-legged partridge); sex and circumstances are optional.
- Send it. For 24 hours you can still remove or add a photo.
What a reported ring is for
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 Orne.
The regional picture
The other departments of the region are Manche, Calvados, Eure and Seine-Maritime. None of the five departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the regional overview). At 381, the number of municipalities here is the lowest among the five departments of the Normandy region.
Recoveries and reports in Orne
- The count of validated recoveries in Orne still stands at zero.
- The validation queue for Orne is empty.
- For comparison, all of France: 3,592 ringed birds in 85 releases and 16 validated recoveries (5 participating federations); details on the Statistics page.
Around Orne
Its neighbours are Manche to the north-west, Calvados to the north-west, Eure to the north-east, Mayenne to the south-west, Sarthe to the south and Eure-et-Loir to the east. Beyond the regional boundary lie the regions of Centre-Val de Loire and Pays de la Loire. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 72% (Eure) to 90% (Manche), against 83% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). No federation registered on RingFollow lies within 400 km; all of them are listed on the Federations page.
The department at a glance
The European CORINE Land Cover inventory (2018) puts agricultural areas at 83% of the area and forests and semi-natural areas at 15%. The rest is mostly artificial surfaces (3%). INSEE counts 381 municipalities and 275,201 inhabitants (2022 population count) over about 6,140 km². The share of artificial surfaces (3%) is lower here than in any of its six neighbours. Its arrondissements are administered from Alençon (prefecture), Argentan and Mortagne-au-Perche.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
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 61 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).
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.
Your questions about Orne
Why are there no statistics for Orne?
A department's statistics are only published if its federation tracks its rings on RingFollow and at least 3 releases are recorded there. The Orne hunters' federation (FDC 61) does not use RingFollow at present.
Who validates a recovery reported in Orne?
A hunters' federation: the one for the department where the bird was originally released, if it is registered on RingFollow. The Orne hunters' federation (FDC 61) 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 Orne?
Just as for a pheasant: photo of the ring, number checked, species “red-legged partridge” or “grey partridge”, and the municipality. Nothing differs in Orne.
Do I have to give my name to report a ring in Orne?
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.
For federations
Hunter or ACCA official in Orne? 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).