Leila Jeffreys was raised in Perth, Australia, however thanks to her very adventurous parents, spent much of her childhood travelling. This included time living in Nasrapur, India, a small village southeast of Mumbai and living with her family on a house boat in Kashmir, India. Jeffreys grew up surrounded by wildlife and forest, sparking her interest in the natural world. She went on to study photography as part of a bachelor of arts degree at Murdoch University and Curtin University in Perth and continued her studies in Sydney, completing an Advanced Certificate III in Photography from Ultimo TAFE College. Jeffreys began documenting birds by way of photographic portraiture as a personal project in 2008. Her first series focused on the much loved family pets, budgerigars. A series of Australian native cockatoos followed in 2012. Her work has been exhibited widely throughout Australia, the United States, Hong Kong, and the UK.