Color and W-chromosome sequence data from study on maternal inheritance of egg mimicry

<div>This dataset supports a study demonstrating that host-specific egg mimicry in the brood-parasitic African cuckoo finch <em>Anomalospiza imberbis</em> is maternally inherited. It includes egg reflectance spectra for the background colour of 188 cuckoo finch eggs from four host species in Zambia, and consensus sequences for 68 W-linked ddRAD-seq loci derived from 80 female cuckoo finches belonging to four different host-specific maternal lineages from three host species in Zambia. These data derive from two partially overlapping samples of eggs: some eggs with genetic data lacked egg spectral data, and vice versa. W-linked genetic data were all of offspring origin as they derived from embryonic or nestling tissue. Additional phenotypic data (host nest species and descriptions of egg phenotype), date and location data associated with each egg spectrum are provided in a separate file. Data on the origin of the individuals contributing to the W-linked loci are provided in Table S1 of the associated publication.</div>