White-crowned sparrows maintained on short days (9:15-h light-dark cycle) were peripherally injected with 1.0, 4.0, and 16 micrograms/kg ip of cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8). Meal size over the subsequent 30 min was significantly depressed in a dose-dependent fashion. Water intake was not affected. The anorexic effect caused by 4.0 micrograms/kg was attenuated by 100 micrograms/kg of the type-A CCK receptor antagonist MK-329 but not by 300 micrograms/kg of the type-B CCK receptor antagonist L 365,260, suggesting that CCK-induced suppression of food intake in this species is mediated by a CCK-A receptor. Administration of both CCK-A and CCK-B receptor antagonists alone resulted in no change in meal size. These experiments suggest that white-crowned sparrows, when weight stable, respond to CCK-8 in a manner comparable with several mammalian species.