A bird taken in Somme carries a coloured, numbered ring? That number is enough to trace it back to its release, whether you hunt near Amiens or in any of the department's 771 municipalities. Reports are useful to the ACCAs (approved communal hunting associations) and federations that organise releases; the public only ever sees totals per department. On the administrative map, department 80 belongs to the Hauts-de-France region; its prefecture is Amiens.
Who validates recoveries in Somme?
The Somme hunters' federation (FDC 80) does not use RingFollow at present. A ring found in Somme 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 Somme.
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 771 in Somme: it locates the recovery but is never published.
- Pick the species from the list (red-legged partridge, hare, pheasant and grey partridge); sex and circumstances are optional.
- Send: with no signal, the report goes out on its own as soon as coverage returns.
Key facts about Somme
Land cover in 2018 (CORINE Land Cover): agricultural areas lead with 82%, followed by forests and semi-natural areas (9%). The rest is shared between artificial surfaces (7%), wetlands (1%) and water bodies (1%). About 6,190 km², 771 municipalities and 565,413 inhabitants in 2022: those are the orders of magnitude. Among the 96 departments of metropolitan France, it ranks 3rd for the number of municipalities (771). Its arrondissements are administered from Amiens (prefecture), Abbeville, Montdidier and Péronne.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
Why report a recovery
ACCAs and federations fund releases; rings are the only way to know what they yield in the field. Consolidated figures are public on the Statistics page, by department.
Recoveries and reports in Somme
- No validated recovery has been located in Somme on RingFollow so far.
- 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.
The breeding side: gibis.fr
Species, delivery and release planning are a matter for the breeder: see game birds for restocking and red-legged and grey partridges on gibis.fr.
What next?
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. If no release matches, the report is kept under department 80 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).
Across the borders
Five departments border it: Pas-de-Calais to the north, Seine-Maritime to the west, Aisne to the south-east, Nord to the north-east and Oise to the south. Beyond the regional boundary lies the region of Normandy. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 69% (Oise) to 80% (Pas-de-Calais), against 82% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). No federation registered on RingFollow lies within 400 km; all of them are listed on the Federations page.
The Hauts-de-France region and RingFollow
Besides Somme, the Hauts-de-France region comprises Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Oise and Aisne. None of the five departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the regional overview). At 82%, the share of agricultural areas here is the highest among the five departments of the Hauts-de-France region.
Frequently asked questions
Does GIBIS validate reports from Somme?
No, never. Recoveries are validated by the federation of the department where the bird was released, if it is registered on RingFollow.
Which neighbouring departments track their rings on RingFollow?
None of its neighbours, and no federation within 400 km. The full list is on the Federations page.
Where do I report a pheasant ring found in Somme?
On bagues.gibis.fr, from a phone: a photo of the ring, the species and the municipality where the bird was taken are enough. No account is needed.
Will my name appear on the Somme page?
No. Public pages only show totals per department, never a count below 3; no hunter, ACCA or municipality is ever named.
Should a ring engraved with an address, found in Somme, 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.
Registering a federation
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).