If you want to grow fruit, you have to be prepared to protect them from the wildlife - they like them as much as we do and don't really care if they are perfectly ripe.

And yes, netting or covering is really the only effective solution against birds. It's going to be a value judgment on your part..........garden aesthetics versus a reasonable fruit harvest :-)) Your choice.

Netting comes in different colors so not always visible to us but they will see and stay away. My neighbor put up a plastic owl which worked well over my grape vine that I let him share. I placed a few shiny whirligigs from dollar store around yard as both decoration and deterrents. Whether wind or wings flapping they spin and make a weird sound the critters arent used to and they run.

Some gadgets can help for a little time but netting them is the only long term solution, don't use the thin large hole netting, will kill birds, I use row covers on my honey berries, no tangling mess and 100% guarantied not killing birds.

You should put netting on before birds are in the fruit, when still green.

I
have homemade whiligigs that are large, shiny and move very well in the
slightest breeze. However, the robins
aren’t at all phased by them. They just
hop over to whatever they want and dig in.
I’ve thrown rocks at them but they just wait on a distant fence until I
walk away, then they’re right back. I’ve
thought of getting a bb gun, but haven’t gone there yet.

At
first they ignored the white currants, and yellow raspberries, but when the
reds and blackberries came in they started eating everything including the
lighter colored fruit. I just bought
some netting so I guess everything will just have to look like crap until I at
least get a little of what I intended.

I'll add that the netting can be removed once the individual plant is done fruiting. Since most don't fruit all at the same time and each plant usually only fruits for a few weeks it's really not that long that they need to be up. I personally haven't had issues with birds bothering unripe fruit. But as soon as the first blush of color shows all bets are off.