Peggy McDonald has raptor facilities that surpass those at Taronga Zoo – and she has allowed university students to benefit from her expertise.

University of Sydney students Jana Schader and Amy Selvaraj are the two most recent guests at Ms McDonald’s house.

Ms Schader has a particular interest in birds, and said her experience was priceless.

“All of Peggy’s aviaries have CCTV cameras, which allows us to see how the birds behave when we’re not around,” she said.

The students helped Ms McDonald care for injured birds, including taking them to see Dr Charlie Carter at Southern Highlands Vets to have bloods taken, be x-rayed and compile statistics to create raptor species profiles online.

“It’s crazy how big some of the birds are, especially the eagles,” Ms Selvaraj said.

Find out more about Ms McDonald’s work at highergroundraptors.org or search Australian Raptor Care and Conservation Inc.