Ecosystem
The Environmental Protection Agency has designated the Corpus Christi Bay system as an estuary of national significance. More than 234 species of fish are found in the bay, including the Gafftopsail catfish, Hardhead catfish, Atlantic croaker, Atlantic cutlassfish, Black drum, Red drum, Southern flounder, Crevalle jack, Ladyfish, Inshore lizardfish, Atlantic midshipman, Silver perch, Pinfish, Smooth puffer, Scaled sardine, Bighead searobin, Sand seatrout, Spotted seatrout, Sheepshead, Gray snapper, Common snook, and the Tripletail.
In 2009, $1 million of federal stimulus money was delegated to the restoration of the marshland near the Nueces Bay Causeway to increase the population of birds and fish. The Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service collaborated to place soil and plant marsh near the causeway to allow a larger nursing location for fish and provide greater quantities of food for water birds. Over 490 species of birds have been found in the area including the Brown pelican, Black-billed whistling duck, Reddish egret, White-faced Ibis, Pauraque, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Long-billed Thrasher, Olive Sparrow, Neotropic Cormorant, Laughing gull, Franklin's gull, Ring-billed gull, Herring gull, Gull-billed tern, Common Loon, Brown-crested flycatcher, Hooded Oriole, Peregrine Falcon and Piping Plover. Bird populations are protected and can be viewed at the Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge on Oso Bay.
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