How to read a ring number: country code, year and serial

Güvercin Yeri · Updated: October 15, 2026 · About 6 min read

A racing pigeon's identity is the ring on its leg. To find the same bird on a pedigree, in a race result and in a sale listing, you first need to read the ring number correctly. In this article we explain the general structure of ring numbers, the ways they are written in different countries, and the mistakes commonly made when searching for a bird.

1. The general structure of a ring number

Racing pigeon rings are closed rings fitted to the bird's leg when it is a youngster, and they cannot be removed afterwards. The numbers are issued by each country's authorised federation or union. Although the format varies by country, most rings contain these three components:

Country or federation code: Shows the organisation that issued the ring. For example BE for Belgium, NL for the Netherlands, TR for Turkey.
Year: The year the bird was rung, usually written with its last two digits. 24 means 2024.
Serial number: The sequence number among the rings issued by that organisation in that year.

In some countries a union or club number, or a letter, is added to these components. The year is important for understanding a bird's age and which season's youngster it is.

2. Different formats by country

The table below contains made-up examples prepared to show what common formats look like; they do not belong to any real bird.

Country	Example appearance	Components
Belgium	BE-24-1234567	Country · year · serial
Netherlands	NL-24-1234567	Country · year · serial
Germany	DV-01234-24-123	Federation · union no. · year · serial
United Kingdom	GB24N12345	Country · year · letter · serial
Turkey	TR-24-123456	Country · year · serial

More than one code may be seen for the same country. For example, birds from Qatar may be written in sources with either the QAT or the QTR code. In addition, the same ring may be written with hyphens in one result list (NL-24-1234567), with spaces in another (NL 24 1234567), or with no separators at all. Separators do not change the identity; if the country code, year and serial are the same, it is the same ring.

3. Common reading mistakes

Leading zeros: Some sources pad the serial number with zeros (00123), others do not (123). Do not assume the two are the same bird without a document; first check that the country and year components also match.
Similar characters: In handwritten or scanned documents, 0 and O, 1 and I, 5 and S, 8 and B are easily confused.
Misreading the year: A single-digit difference such as 24 versus 21 completely changes the bird's age.
Matching by name: Names such as "Kral" or "Şimşek" can be repeated across many birds. Always rely on the ring for identity.
Leaving out the country code: A search using only the year and serial can mix up birds from different countries that have the same serial.

4. The difference between the ring and the chip

In races using an electronic timing system, the birds carry a chip on their leg in addition to the ring. The chip is used to register the bird's entry into the loft automatically. The chip number is not the same as the ring number, and in some cases a new chip may be fitted to the bird later. The bird's permanent identity is the ring.

In source systems, the ring number linked to a result is occasionally corrected afterwards. When you see such a correction, it is best to check the official source before linking the two records to each other.

5. Searching correctly on Güvercin Yeri

When searching for a bird on the ring number search page, you can follow this sequence:

Type the ring as it appears on the document, including the country code and year.
If there is no result, try writing the separators (hyphen, space) differently and check the leading zeros.
Confirm that the country, year and serial components of the record found match the document you have exactly.
No result at all does not mean the bird does not exist; its race record may not have been imported yet.

When you see a wrong ring or an incorrect match in a record, you can write to us at the address on the contact page, including the link to the bird.

Getting age and season information from the ring

The year on the ring shows which season's youngster the bird is. In race records, birds are usually grouped by age: birds carrying a ring of the current year are young birds, those carrying a ring of the previous year are yearlings, and those with older rings are treated as old birds. Since the great majority of One Loft Races are flown with young birds, the ring year of the birds in these races is usually the same as the race year.

The ring year is also a checkpoint when reading a pedigree. A bird's parent cannot have a ring year later than the bird's own ring year. If you see such a case, either the ring has been misread or the family link is wrong. We explain the other details of reading a pedigree in the pedigree article.

Consistency in your own records

When registering your own birds, writing the ring in the same format everywhere makes searching and matching much easier later on. Make it a habit to write the country code, the two digits of the year and the serial number as on the document, with the same separator. If you notice that you have entered a bird's ring incorrectly, correcting the existing record rather than creating a new one prevents the race and pedigree information linked to that bird from being split.