The sparrowhawk's hunting behaviour means people who own homing pigeons or keep birds for food may dislike it. Some people also blame the sparrowhawk for decreases in the numbers of smaller birds. Scientists have found that increased numbers of sparrowhawks did not reduce the numbers of birds living in farmland and woodland in the 1960s. Research in Scotland found that less than 1% of homing pigeons that died were killed by sparrowhawks.