South Plaza (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Isla Plaza Sur'') is a small island off the east coast of Santa Cruz in the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...

. It has an area of 0.13 km² and a maximum altitude of 23 metres. South Plaza was formed by lava up streaming from the bottom of the ocean. Despite its small size, it is home to a large number of species and known for its extraordinary flora. The sea bluffs hold large numbers of birds, such as nesting

red-billed tropicbird The red-billed tropicbird (''Phaethon aethereus'') is a tropicbird, one of three closely related species of seabird of tropical oceans. Superficially resembling a tern in appearance, it has mostly white plumage with some black markings on the wi ...

s and

swallow-tailed gull The swallow-tailed gull (''Creagrus furcatus'') is an equatorial seabird in the gull family, Laridae. It is the only species in the genus ''Creagrus'', which derives from the Latin ''Creagra'' and the Greek ''kreourgos'' which means butcher, al ...

s, and offer wide vistas. The prickly pear cactus trees (''

Opuntia galapageia ''Opuntia galapageia'' is a species of cactus. It is endemic to the Galápagos Islands, part of Ecuador. Forms occurring on different islands have been treated as separate species and subtaxa of these species. ''Opuntia echios'', ''Opuntia heller ...

'') are noteworthy, as is the large colony of

Galápagos land iguana The Galápagos land iguana (''Conolophus subcristatus'') is a very large species of lizard in the family Iguanidae. It is one of three species of the genus ''Conolophus''. It is endemic to the Galápagos Islands, in the dry lowlands of the island ...

s. Furthermore, the territory and breeding season of the Galapagos land iguana overlap only on South Plaza Island with those of the

marine iguana The marine iguana (''Amblyrhynchus cristatus''), also known as the sea iguana, saltwater iguana, or Galápagos marine iguana, is a species of iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador). Unique among modern lizards, it is a marine rept ...

, giving rise to a unique population of

hybrid iguana The hybrid iguana is a first-generation hybrid, the result of intergeneric breeding between a male marine iguana (''Amblyrhynchus cristatus'') and a female Galapagos land iguana (''Conolophus subcristatus'') on South Plaza Island South Plaza ( ...

s. Depending on the season, the ''

Sesuvium ''Sesuvium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae. The roughly eight species it contains are commonly known as sea-purslanes. Selected species * '' Sesuvium crithmoides'' Welw. – Tropical sea-purslane * '' Ses ...

'' ground vegetation changes its colour from green in the rainy season to orange and purple in the dry season.

References

Islands of the Galápagos Islands Island restoration {{Ecuador-geo-stub