Their numbers have been drastically reduced over the last few years since people have been killing them in a variety of ways. Some people shoot and trap birds of prey because they are said to kill a numerous amount of farm animals. However, this is a mistaken idea. Birds of prey tend to kill relatively few farm animals. Instead, the main food source of birds of prey are the animals that are the farmers' worst enemies such as mice, rats, insects and other crop destroyers.
Pesticides are yet another great danger to the birds of prey.
Continuously, small animals absorb small quantities of pesticide. The amount may not be enough to kill them, but it does stay in their bodies. As birds of prey digest insects and rodents the amounts of pesticides in their bodies becomes increasingly toxic, often to the point of death. A third major danger is human population. As people convert wild places to housing developments and farms, the hunting territories are destroyed, leaving the birds with little or nothing to eat.