Next time you find yourself in a wetland keep your eyes peeled for stray waterbird feathers. A new citizen science program - the Feather Map of Australia - is asking people of all ages to collect and post in feathers they find for analysis. 
Using equipment similar to an X-ray machine, the scanned feathers will help identify the bird species and reveal information about its diet, where it's been and how healthy its habitat is. Ultimately, it will create a map of waterbird populations around Australia.
''The aim is to improve our conservation of both wetlands and waterbird populations [which are] being hit pretty hard at the moment,'' says Dr Kate Brandis, leader of the joint project between the University of NSW and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).
''Feathers are made of keratin, the same as your hair and nails,''Dr Brandis said. ''And as they grow they incorporate records of the foods you've been eating. Because the food source at each wetland is different; each wetland therefore has a unique signature.''
Dr Brandis has been researching colonial waterbirds for the past 15 years. She hopes the Feather Map will not only solve the ongoing mystery of where these birds come from and go to but also determine which wetlands are crucially important for particular species. Armed with this knowledge it will be possible to improve management of important wetlands by providing adequate allocations of water, she says.
At Jells Park, commonly seen waterfowl include Pacific Black Ducks, Australasian Darters and Little Black Cormorants. You might also see regular visitor and Mount Waverley local Graeme Hosken, 77, who says he became hooked on birds at age 14 after receiving a second-hand copy of the ornithological bible What Bird Is That?
''I opened it and inside was a little cutting from a newspaper and it said: 'If there weren't any birds the world would be overrun by insects in a year'.
That's just one activity they can do but, of course, they're pollinators, they're everything.''
Hosken has since been involved in bird-watching competitions, carried out survey work to preserve wetlands and joined clubs. He thinks the Feather Map of Australia is an excellent idea.
Meanwhile, the project has negotiated special licences to make it legal to collect feathers from the ground and send them in to the Feather Map of Australia project. The researchers are also asking people to include a tag on each feather with the date, species (if known) and GPS location of where it was found.
Information about collection permits, instructions, plus addresses to send feathers to can be found at feathermap.ansto.gov.au.