 One Central Australian study over two and a half years found that, within six months of an outbreak starting, the birds had relocated to that location.When the rodent populations decline, the now superabundant kites may disperse and appear in coastal areas far from their normal range; though they may occasionally breed in these new locations, they do not persist and eventually disappear.Across Central Australia, the letter-winged kite shares its habitat with another nocturnal rodent hunter, the eastern barn owl; the latter species prefers larger rodents such as the plains rat ("Pseudomys australis"), whereas the kite hunts all species, including the sandy inland mouse ("Pseudomys hermannsburgensis") and spinifex hopping mouse ("Notomys alexis"), on availability.