Have been hanging a 3/4 coconut shell filled with fat from the bird table for about 2 years now. Mostly attracted starlings, and lasted a couple of weeks before it needed replacing.
The starlings are messy eaters and drop bits underneath on the lawn, which resulted in regular visits from a few magpies who waited for the crumbs. Eventually, they too learned to feed directly from the
3/4 coconuts by hanging on to the suspension cord with one foot, although one of the magpies broke its leg about 18 months ago and could still only feed from the lawn - it's recovered now, but still limps with that leg sticking out at the wrong angle. The coconuts were down to just over a week before emptying out.In the last week, I found they were now empty after just a day. So looking out, I see all the starlings and the magpies have worked out how to build up sugarlump-sized pieces of fat in their beaks, and fly off with them, rather than eating at the table. Unless I can find a cheaper source of fat than buying the 3/4 coconuts, that's it. Tried lard (cheap in supermarket), and they wouldn't touch it. Tried suet, and they liked that more, but it's no cheaper than the preloaded 3/4 coconuts.