Calypte anna and Selasphorus rufus feather transcriptomes from iridescent and non-iridescent plumage patches

Paired-end RNAseq reads from developing feathers of wild Calypte anna (5 female, 1 male) and Selasphorus rufus (4 female) collected in Washington state, USA in 2022. Samples were collected from iridescent dorsal and non-iridescent ventral plumage patches. Developing feathers were sampled, stored, and homogenized individually. Gene counts were used to identify differential expression between iridescent and non-iridescent feathers in each species. Results from Calypte anna demonstrate downregulation of melanogenesis via ASIP in non-iridescent feathers .