A bird taken in Yonne carries a coloured, numbered ring? That number is enough to trace it back to its release, whether you hunt near Auxerre or in any of the department's 423 municipalities. Reports are useful to the ACCAs (approved communal hunting associations) and federations that organise releases; the public only ever sees totals per department. Yonne is one of the eight departments of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, with Auxerre as its prefecture.
Ring tracking in Yonne
For department 89, no federation uses 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 Yonne.
From photo to report
- Start with a sharp photo of the ring: the number is read automatically, and you check it.
- Say where the bird was taken: the municipality is used for validation and never appears in public.
- State the species, hare 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.
Recoveries and reports in Yonne
- The count of validated recoveries in Yonne 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.
Land and population
The European CORINE Land Cover inventory (2018) puts agricultural areas at 66% of the area and forests and semi-natural areas at 30%. The rest is mostly artificial surfaces (3%). With 332,267 inhabitants (INSEE, 2022 population count) on about 7,460 km², the density is roughly 45 inhabitants per km²; the department has 423 municipalities. Its arrondissements are administered from Auxerre (prefecture), Avallon and Sens.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
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 Yonne as elsewhere. For an example, see the review of the 2025 pheasant-poult operation (Infochasse mag' no. 72, in French).
What next?
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 89 and stays out of the public totals. The public only sees totals per department; points on the national map are rounded to about 1 km.
Within the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
The other departments of the region are Territoire de Belfort, Côte-d'Or, Haute-Saône, Saône-et-Loire, Nièvre, Doubs and Jura. None of the eight departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the regional overview).
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.
Neighbouring departments
Five departments border it: Côte-d'Or to the south-east, Loiret to the west, Seine-et-Marne to the north-west, Aube to the north-east and Nièvre to the south. Beyond the regional boundary lie the regions of Centre-Val de Loire, Grand Est and Île-de-France. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 59% (Côte-d'Or) to 69% (Aube), against 66% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). The nearest department whose federation tracks its rings on RingFollow is Ain, about 235 km to the south-east as the crow flies between department centres. Next come Haute-Loire (about 300 km) and Isère (about 325 km).
Frequently asked questions
Which neighbouring departments track their rings on RingFollow?
None of its direct neighbours. The nearest registered federation is in Ain, about 235 km away between department centres.
Will my name appear on the Yonne page?
No. Public pages only show totals per department, never a count below 3; no hunter, ACCA or municipality is ever named.
Does GIBIS validate reports from Yonne?
No, never. Recoveries are validated by the federation of the department where the bird was released, if it is registered on RingFollow.
Where do I report a pheasant ring found in Yonne?
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.
How do I recognise a Gibis ring found in Yonne?
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.
A federation that would like to track its rings
A registered federation validates the recoveries in its own department and can export its data. Full list: Federations; contact: gibis@gibis.fr.
Few figures for Yonne so far? See what a well-filled department page looks like (example with simulated data).