Alan R. Dean is a British ornithologist with a special interest in gulls and warblers. He lives in Solihull, West Midlands. He is a member of the West Midland Bird Club and was an assistant editor of its Annual Reports for 1975–1980. He was a member of the British Birds Rarities Committee from 1984–1992 and in 2007 published a comprehensive account of the committee's history and publications. He has published a number of identification papers in British Birds. His papers and articles on Siberian chiffchaff have been of particular note. In 2010, the West Midland Bird Club conferred on him life membership, in recognition of his contribution to ornithology.