Starlings eat our figs before we can partake. Is netting the only sure solution or are there other methods?
Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Living with Wildlife page on starlings mentions netting as well as bird-scare tape and other devices. Other sources suggest picking just-ripe figs early in the morning, and not leaving ripe figs on the tree–the birds know perhaps better than we do when the fruit it ripe.
The netting is probably your best bet for the fig tree, although it is a bit cumbersome and unsightly. I imagine the figs are worth it, despite the aesthetic sacrifice.