Sort a list of bird species taxonomically using the rebird packaage

sort_birds.R

## Make some mock data for demonstration purposes:
Species <- c("Green-winged Teal", "Bald Eagle", "Swainson's Hawk", "Red-tailed Hawk", 
               "American Coot", "Rock Pigeon", "Red-naped Sapsucker", "Northern Flicker", 
               "American Kestrel", "Western Wood-Pewee", "Willow Flycatcher", 
               "Dusky Flycatcher", "Say's Phoebe", "Eastern Kingbird", "Black-billed Magpie", 
               "Common Raven", "Tree Swallow", "Cliff Swallow", "House Wren", 
               "Marsh Wren", "Mountain Bluebird", "American Robin", "European Starling", 
               "Cedar Waxwing", "Yellow-rumped Warbler", "Clay-colored Sparrow", 
               "White-crowned Sparrow", "Vesper Sparrow", "Western Meadowlark", 
               "Yellow-headed Blackbird", "Brewer's Blackbird", "Mallard", "Blue-winged Teal", 
               "Lesser Scaup", "Ruffed Grouse", "Wilson's Snipe", "Black-chinned Hummingbird", 
               "Downy Woodpecker", "Warbling Vireo", "Northern Rough-winged Swallow", 
               "Barn Swallow", "Black-capped Chickadee", "Mountain Chickadee", 
               "Orange-crowned Warbler", "Yellow Warbler", "Chipping Sparrow", 
               "Savannah Sparrow", "Song Sparrow", "Western Tanager", "Red-winged Blackbird", 
               "Bullock's Oriole", "Pine Siskin")
N_obs <- rpois(length(Species), 2)
bird_list <- data.frame(Species, N_obs, stringsAsFactors = FALSE)

library(rebird)
library(dplyr)

## Get global taxonomy table which contains taxon order
tax <- ebirdtaxonomy()

## Join the bird list data frame with the taxonomy data frame
bird_list <- left_join(bird_list, tax, by = c("Species" = "comName"))

## Sort by taxonOrder
bird_list_sorted <- arrange(bird_list, taxonOrder)