Jane Stockdale for The New York Times
WIMBLEDON, England — Imagine the fluttering kerfuffle.
Roger Federer is serving for the Wimbledon title. He tosses the ball and cranes his neck.
Plop. A gift from a pigeon, right on the forehead.
Luckily, something like that hasn’t happened. At least not yet, not during a big match in recent memory.
For that, Wimbledon can thank a brown and chestnut bird of prey with keen eyes, a four-foot wingspan and bone-crushing talons. His name is Rufus the Hawk, and he plays a crucial role at the world’s oldest tennis tournament.