Mark Brazil is a widely travelled field ornithologist and an experienced writer. He received a doctorate for his studies of the behavioural ecology of the Whooper Swan in Scotland and Iceland. His interest in swans has continued and he spends part of each winter studying them in Hokkaido, where he is currently Professor of Biodiversity and Conservation at Rakuno Gakuen University, Hokkaido. Mark's books include The Whooper Swan and Field Guide to Birds of East Asia. He has written research and review papers on a wide range of species, and has contributed a regular column on natural history to The Japan Times newspaper continuously since 1982.

The text and illustrations are all very clean and straightforward and easy to use … Anyone planning a birding trip to Japan needs this guide!