At the center of the Tzaparton is a national birdwatching marathon in which teams of birdwatchers all over Israel attempt to spot as many bird species as possible for 24 hours. This unique challenge requires deep and wide familiarity with bird habitats in Israel, and with the different bird species that can be spotted everywhere.
The 24-hour limit forces the teams to pick a strategy for optimal use of the time they have, and carefully calculate the time needed to reach each habitat and the bird species they expect to see. Each member of the winning team will receive a prestigious binoculars.
The recent years saw a growing interest in bird photography, which is one of the most challenging photography genres. The beautiful birds as fast and sneaky, and the bigger the challenge of catching a bird's photograph is, the bigger the satisfaction of seeing the photo after it was taken.
The bird photography marathon which takes place as part of the KKL-JNF Tzaparton even, has already established itself as one of Israel's most important nature photography competitions. The competition is held in collaboration with the Israeli Association of Nature Photographers, which also takes part in judging. The winning photographs are presented in the closing ceremony of the Tzaparton, and the photographers who won the first three places win valuable coupons for purchasing photography equipment. The best photographs are presented in an exhibition in collaboration with the KKL-JNF Photo Archive. When the exhibition closes, the photographs are posted online.
The pictures chosen for the exhibition also participate in a competition in which the public's favorite photograph is taken.