The species is critically endangered, but is still fished and consumed. Scientific advice to European Agriculture and Fisheries Council, meeting December 10th-11th, is a zero-catch policy

A study from the Doñana Biological Station – CSIC has documented the extinction of the Eurasian hobby (Falco subbuteo) in Doñana National Park due to prey depletion, farmland intensificiation, chemical contamination, predation, and climate warming.
This extinction suggests that declines of many species could be occurring and remain undetected in less monitored areas with less funds for conservation

How brain size directly and indirectly influences vulnerability to extinction across 474 mammalian species was evaluated. Under current conditions, the constraints on life-history imposed by large brains outweigh the potential benefits, undermining the resilience of the studied mammalian species. Contrary to the selective forces that have favoured increased brain size throughout evolutionary history, at present, larger brains have become a burden for mammals.

Monitoring long-term trends in population size is important for species' conservation assessments. However, it may be unfeasible for rare species, for which past records are typically sparse. In this study, the potential of birding trip reports as an underappreciated source of biological information to monitor rare species was investigated.