The Mauritius Kestrel - Falco punctatus - is a small bird of prey, endemic to the forests of the island of Mauritius, an island nation off the southeast coast of Africa, where it is restricted to the southwestern plateau’s forests, cliffs, and ravines. It is the most distinct of the Indian Ocean Kestrels.

The males are slightly smaller than the females. The wings are rounded, unlike those of other falcon. The lifespan is 15 years in captivity. The Mauritius Kestrel hunts by means of short, swift flights through forests. It is carnivorous, eating geckos, crickets, cicades, dragonflies and small birds.

 In pre-colonial time the population was estimated between 175 and 325 breeding pairs. This small population was caused most likely by deforestation in the 18th century. But the most severe decline was in the 1950s and 1960s due to indiscriminate DDT use and invasive species like mongooses, Crab-eating Macaques and cats. The recorded population dropped to an all-time low of only 4 individuals in 1974 and it was considered the rarest bird in the world.

In 1979 With the help of Gerald Durrell, the Welsh biologist Carl Jones established a wildlife sanctuary on Ile aux Aigrettes. He climbed up the trees and removed the eggs from the nests. This time the eggs were fertile, and Jones was able to rear the hatchlings in incubators. The wild kestrels' diet was supplemented so they would be able to lay a new egg after the first one was removed, averting any negative impact on the wild population. Slowly the population increased and during a census in 1984 50 individuals were estimated. Techniques for breeding, release, and “hacking” of young birds were improved, the captive breeding center becoming a pioneering research institution for tropical raptors and small falcon conservation. The captive breeding programme was scaled back in the early 1990s as a self-sustaining population was established. Since 1994, the programme serves only as a safeguard, should some catastrophe befall the wild population, and other rare endemic’s are now being cared for at the station - such as the Pink Pigeon or the Mauritius Fody.

Today there are more than 800 mature birds, with numbers rising; it is estimated that the remaining habitat allows for a carrying capacity of maybe 50-150 more Kestrels.