A ringed partridge or pheasant recovered in Puy-de-Dôme 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 63 belongs to the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region; its prefecture is Clermont-Ferrand.
Who validates recoveries in Puy-de-Dôme?
The Puy-de-Dôme hunters' federation (FDC 63) 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. 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 Puy-de-Dôme.
Found a ring: what to do
- Photograph the ring, on the leg or once removed; if the number runs all the way round, take several shots.
- Enter the municipality, Clermont-Ferrand or any other in the department; no municipality is ever shown publicly.
- State the species, red-legged partridge or pheasant for example, and if you know them, the sex and circumstances of the recovery.
- Send the report; name, phone and e-mail are optional, but an e-mail address gets you an acknowledgement.
What a reported ring is for
The recovery rate is the number of validated rings divided by the number of birds released. It only exists if hunters report, in Puy-de-Dôme as elsewhere. For an example, see the review of the 2025 pheasant-poult operation (Infochasse mag' no. 72, in French).
Further reading
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.
Recoveries and reports in Puy-de-Dôme
- The count of validated recoveries in Puy-de-Dôme still stands at zero.
- 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.
Neighbouring departments
Its neighbours are Loire to the east, Creuse to the north-west, Allier to the north, Haute-Loire to the south-east, Corrèze to the south-west and Cantal to the south-west. Beyond the regional boundary lies the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 49% (Corrèze) to 79% (Allier), against 56% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). Of these, Haute-Loire tracks its rings on RingFollow.
Within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
Besides Puy-de-Dôme, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region comprises Loire, Haute-Savoie, Cantal, Allier, Drôme, Ardèche, Savoie, Haute-Loire, Ain, Isère and Rhône. Three of the 12 departments in the region have their federation on RingFollow: Ain, Isère and Haute-Loire (see the Federations page).
After you send it
Once sent, the report is kept; if you left an e-mail address, an acknowledgement follows. 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 63 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).
Land and population
The European CORINE Land Cover inventory (2018) puts agricultural areas at 56% of the area and forests and semi-natural areas at 39%. The rest is mostly artificial surfaces (5%). INSEE counts 463 municipalities and 664,453 inhabitants (2022 population count) over about 8,010 km². The number of municipalities (463) is higher here than in any of its six neighbours. Besides Clermont-Ferrand, the prefecture, the department has four sub-prefectures: Ambert, Issoire, Riom and Thiers.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
Frequently asked questions
Should a ring engraved with an address, found in Puy-de-Dôme, 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.
Will my name appear on the Puy-de-Dôme page?
No. Public pages only show totals per department, never a count below 3; no hunter, ACCA or municipality is ever named.
Who validates a recovery reported in Puy-de-Dôme?
A hunters' federation: the one for the department where the bird was originally released, if it is registered on RingFollow. The Puy-de-Dôme hunters' federation (FDC 63) does not use RingFollow at present, and GIBIS never validates.
Can I report a ring without a mobile signal in Puy-de-Dôme?
Yes. The form keeps the report on the phone and sends it as soon as coverage returns, wherever you are in Puy-de-Dôme.
Why are there no statistics for Puy-de-Dôme?
A department's statistics are only published if its federation tracks its rings on RingFollow and at least 3 releases are recorded there. The Puy-de-Dôme hunters' federation (FDC 63) does not use RingFollow at present.
For federations
A registered federation validates the recoveries in its own department and can export its data. Full list: Federations; contact: gibis@gibis.fr.
To get an idea of a department page with its statistics, see the sample page (simulated data).