Rodent plagues and Letter-winged Kites

["RAOU Conservation (Hugo Phillipps)" <>]

There seems to be some kind of major or minor rodent plague somewhere in
Australia almost every year.  Predisposing conditions may vary according to
climate and soil type.  However, the introduced House Mouse plagues that
affect cereal crops are well outside the core breeding range of LWKs and one
would not usually attract many LWKs unless it coincided with the later
stages of a LWK breeding event.  These are associated with rainfall in the
inland causing plagues of native Long-haired Rats.  Maybe someone who has
been along the Strzlecki Track recently could tell us what conditions are
like there now.

Cheers,  Hugo.

Hugo Phillipps,
RAOU Conservation & Liaison,
Australian Bird Research Centre,
415 Riversdale Road,
Hawthorn East, VIC 3123, Australia.
Tel: +61 3 9882 2622. Fax: +61 3 9882 2677.
Email: <>
The Virtual Emu: http://www.vicnet.net.au/~raou/raou.html