How to Read a Pigeon Ring Number: Country Codes, Years & Serials

Every racing pigeon wears a closed ring on its leg, put on when it is a few days old. The ring cannot be taken off later, so it is the bird’s permanent identity. Learning to read it tells you a lot at a glance.

Three-Part and Four-Part Ring Numbers

Most rings have three parts: country, year and serial. Some formats add a fourth part, a regional or club code.

• Country code. Two letters that show the country or federation, for example BE for Belgium or NL for the Netherlands.
• Year. Two or four digits for the year the bird was born. 22 means 2022, and some countries print the full 2023.
• Serial number. The unique number of the ring within that year.
• Regional or club code. Some formats add a third part with a regional or club number.

An Example

Take BE 22-6145032. BE is the country, 22 is the year of birth, and 6145032 is the serial number. That tells you the bird is from 2022, so you can work out its age straight away.

Formats differ by country

Federations arrange the parts differently, and the order or the number of digits can change. If you are not sure about a ring, check with the federation that issued it before you write it on a pedigree.

Why write it exactly

On a pedigree and in your loft records, the ring number is the key that links a bird to its parents and its race results. Type it exactly as it appears, with the same spacing and digits, every time.

Try the ring decoder

The ring decoder on the home page splits a ring number into country, year and serial in your browser. Nothing is sent or stored. When you keep your pigeons in MyPigeonPedigree, every bird, pedigree and result is tied to its ring number. See loft management.