The magpie, a regular diner at the Waring family home on Wirral, Merseyside, has so far left £1.70 in coins on the garden bird table.

Gill Waring, from Rosefield Avenue, Bebington, began leaving bread for the bird and noticed one or two coins were being left behind each day.

She said: "I was baffled because I didn't know how the coins got there and then one day I looked out of the window and saw the magpie leaving money. I couldn't believe it.

"I think the magpie must pick the coins up because I was told they are attracted to shiny things. "

Kirsty Peck, wildlife adviser at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: "It is very unusual because exchanging something is a human trait and not common in birds. I can only assume somebody has taught the bird to do this."