Isla de la Plata is a small island off the coast of Manabí,

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, and is part of Parque Nacional Machalilla. Guided tours of the island are given on a couple of different hiking trails. It can be reached by boat from the city of

Puerto López Puerto López, with a population of 12,598, is a fishing village set in an arched bay on the Pacific coast in the Ecuadorian Manabí Province. Puerto Lopéz is the Machalilla National Park headquarters. The main industries include fishing an ...

, which is 40 km away.

History

There is a shrine from

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

times located on the island.

Environment

On the island, there is a large diversity of animal species, including the

blue-footed booby The blue-footed booby (''Sula nebouxii'') is a marine bird native to subtropical and tropical regions of the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is one of six species of the genus ''booby, Sula'' – known as boobies. It is easily recognizable by its dis ...

red-footed booby The red-footed booby (''Sula sula'') is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. Adults always have red feet, but the colour of the plumage varies. They are powerful and agile fliers, but they are clumsy in takeoffs and landings. They are ...

, and the

Nazca booby The Nazca booby (''Sula granti'') is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae, native to the eastern Pacific. First described by Walter Rothschild in 1902, it was long considered a subspecies of the masked booby until recognised as distin ...

. Another species found here is the

South American sea lion The South American sea lion (''Otaria flavescens'', formerly ''Otaria byronia''), also called the southern sea lion and the Patagonian sea lion, is a sea lion found on the western and southeastern coasts of South America. It is the Monotypic ta ...

Important Bird Area

The island has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports significant populations of resident Esmeraldas woodstars,

magnificent frigatebird The magnificent frigatebird (''Fregata magnificens''), frigate petrel or man o' war is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae. With a length of and wingspan of , it is the largest species of frigatebird. It occurs over tropical and subtr ...

s and blue-footed boobies, breeding

waved albatross The waved albatross (''Phoebastria irrorata''), also known as Galapagos albatross,Remsen Jr., J.V. (2008) is one of three species of the family Diomedeidae that occur in the tropics. When they forage, they follow a straight path to a single site ...

es, and

wandering tattler The wandering tattler (''Tringa incana''; formerly ''Heteroscelus incanus'': Pereira & Baker, 2005; Banks ''et al.'', 2006), is a medium-sized wading bird. It is similar in appearance to the closely related gray-tailed tattler, ''T. brevipes'' ...

s on passage.

Gallery

File:Blue-footed Booby at Isla de la Plata.jpg, Blue-footed booby on Isla de la Plata in winter. File:Blue-footed Booby with young.jpg, Blue-footed booby with new young on Isla de la Plata. File:Isla de la Plata tour.jpg, Tour guide addresses customers at the beginning of a tour.

References

External links

Isla de la Plata, Ecuador
(in Spanish) Pacific islands of Ecuador Important Bird Areas of Ecuador Important Bird Areas of Oceania Geography of Manabí Province Tourist attractions in Manabí Province {{ecuador-geo-stub