The Heron Specialists Group (HSG) held Zoom meetings on January 26th (AM) and 27th (PM), 2021 to accommodate our recently updated worldwide membership and to seek input on new or renewed direction for our group. The AM meeting was attended by 12-15 members and the PM meeting had about double that, close to 30 participants; all continents except Antarctica were represented. It was our largest get together since the 1st Herons of the World Symposium at the Waterbird Society meeting in New Bern, North Carolina, USA, in 2016.
After a Zoom round table of Introductions and brief bios, a short PowerPoint focussed our discussions on: 1. a unique map showing the density of herons of the world along with research locations of HSG members, 2. a brief discussion of our journal, Journal of Heron Biology and Conservation and a call for Continental Associate Editors (Doug Harebottle volunteered for Africa and we are waiting for others), 3. the status of the 2nd Herons of the World Symposium, which was slated to be part of the Pan-African Ornithological Congress in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, in November 2020, but has been delayed due to Covid-19, and 4. the current functions and future goals (2021-2025) of HSG, ranging from Species Working Groups, Networking among members and Annual Meetings to a 3rd Herons of the World Symposium in 2024, zoo sponsorships for HeronConservation and Heron Conservation Plans at the Global and Regional levels.
