Coloured ring on the leg, number clearly legible: if you have recovered a farm-reared bird in Deux-Sèvres, 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. Part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, which has 12 departments, the department is administered from Niort.
Validating recoveries in Deux-Sèvres
The Deux-Sèvres hunters' federation (FDC 79) is not among the federations registered on RingFollow. 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 Deux-Sèvres.
From photo to report
- Photograph the ring, on the leg or once removed; if the number runs all the way round, take several shots.
- Enter the municipality, Niort or any other in the department; no municipality is ever shown publicly.
- State the species, pheasant or grey partridge for example, and if you know them, the sex and circumstances of the recovery.
- Send: with no signal, the report goes out on its own as soon as coverage returns.
The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and RingFollow
The other departments of the region are Haute-Vienne, Landes, Vienne, Dordogne, Gironde, Corrèze, Charente, Charente-Maritime, Creuse, Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Lot-et-Garonne. None of the 12 departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the Federations page). At 7%, the share of forests and semi-natural areas here is the lowest among the 12 departments of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.
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 Deux-Sèvres.
Neighbouring departments
Five departments border it: Charente to the south-east, Charente-Maritime to the south, Vienne to the east, Maine-et-Loire to the north and Vendée to the west. Beyond the regional boundary lies the region of Pays de la Loire. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 74% (Charente) to 86% (Vendée), against 88% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). The nearest department whose federation tracks its rings on RingFollow is Haute-Loire, about 355 km to the south-east as the crow flies between department centres.
Recoveries and reports in Deux-Sèvres
- The count of validated recoveries in Deux-Sèvres 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.
Further reading
RingFollow tracks rings; breeding, species and restocking are covered on gibis.fr: game birds for restocking and red-legged and grey partridges.
From report to validation
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 79 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).
Key facts about Deux-Sèvres
The European CORINE Land Cover inventory (2018) puts agricultural areas at 88% of the area and forests and semi-natural areas at 7%. The rest is mostly artificial surfaces (5%). With 375,229 inhabitants (INSEE, 2022 population count) on about 6,040 km², the density is roughly 62 inhabitants per km²; the department has 252 municipalities. Among the 96 departments of metropolitan France, it ranks 4th for the share of agricultural areas (88%). Besides Niort, the prefecture, the department has two sub-prefectures: Bressuire and Parthenay.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
Frequently asked questions
Does GIBIS validate reports from Deux-Sèvres?
No, never. Recoveries are validated by the federation of the department where the bird was released, if it is registered on RingFollow.
Can I report a ring without a mobile signal in Deux-Sèvres?
Yes. The form keeps the report on the phone and sends it as soon as coverage returns, wherever you are in Deux-Sèvres.
Why are there no statistics for Deux-Sèvres?
A department's statistics are only published if its federation tracks its rings on RingFollow and at least 3 releases are recorded there. The Deux-Sèvres hunters' federation (FDC 79) does not use RingFollow at present.
How do I recognise a Gibis ring found in Deux-Sèvres?
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.
Will my name appear on the Deux-Sèvres page?
No. Public pages only show totals per department, never a count below 3; no hunter, ACCA or municipality is ever named.
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).