a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play

Calque of Latin plus valet in manibus avis unica quam dupla silvis (“a single bird in the hands is worth more than two in the forest”), possibly deriving from sources as old as the ancient Middle East, with the 6th century BCE Proverbs of Ahiqar including "a sparrow in thy hand is better than a thousand sparrows flying".

55 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Albanian: flaka të djeg, prushi të ngroh — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Arabic: عُصْفُورٌ فِي ٱلْيَدِ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ عُصْفُورِينَ عَلَى ٱلشَّجَرَةِ (ʕuṣfūrun fī l-yadi ʔafḍalu min ʕuṣfūrīna ʕalā š-šajarati) — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Armenian: փորձված թանը անփորձ մածունի հետ չեն փոխի (pʻorjvac tʻanə anpʻorj macuni het čʻen pʻoxi) — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Belarusian: лепш верабей у руцэ, чым жораў пад небам (ljepš vjerabjej u ruce, čym žóraw pad njebam) — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Chinese Mandarin: 一鳥在手勝於十鳥在林 /一鸟在手胜于十鸟在林 (yī niǎo zài shǒu shèngyú shí niǎo zài lín) — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Czech: lepší vrabec v hrsti, nežli holub na střeše — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Danish: en fugl i hånden er bedre end ti på taget — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Dutch: beter een vogel in de hand dan tien in de lucht — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Esperanto: pli bona ol dek branĉoj sur centono — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Estonian: parem varblane peos kui tuvi katusel — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Finnish: parempi pyy pivossa kuin kymmenen oksalla — small but certain advantage is preferable
• French: un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l'auras — small but certain advantage is preferable
• French: moineau à la main vaut mieux que grue qui vole — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Friulian: l'è miôr un ûf vuê che une gjaline doman — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Galician: vale máis paxaro na man que cento voando — small but certain advantage is preferable
• German: besser ein Spatz in der Hand als eine Taube auf dem Dach — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Hebrew: טוב ציפור אחת ביד משתיים על העץ (tov tzippór aḥát bayád mishtáim 'al ha'étz) — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Hindi: नौ नक़द न तेरह उधार (nau naqad na terah udhār) — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Hungarian: jobb ma egy veréb, mint holnap egy túzok — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Icelandic: betri er einn fugl í hendi en tveir í skógi — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Irish: is fearr breac sa láimh ná bradán sa linn — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Irish: is fearr áirithe na srathrach ná iasacht na diallaite — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Italian: meglio un uovo oggi che una gallina domani — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Khmer: ចាបមួយនៅដៃប្រសើរក្រៃ ជាងចាបដប់នៅលើឈើ (chaap muəy nɨv day prɑsaə kray, jieng chaap dɑp nɨv ləə chəə) — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Latvian: labāk zīle, kas man ir rokā, nekā mednis, kas vēl sēd kokā — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Latvian: labāk zīle rokā, nekā mednis kokā — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Lombard: l'è mej un üsèll in man che cent che vola — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Luxembourgish: Léiwer e Spatz an der Hand wei eng Dauf um Daach — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Macedonian: поарно врапче на рака отколку гулаб на гранка (poarno vrapče na raka otkolku gulab na granka) — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Macedonian: подобро врапче на рака отколку гулаб на гранка (podobro vrapče na raka otkolku gulab na granka) — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Malay: يڠ کجر تق داڤت, يڠ دکيندوڠ برچيچيرن — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Malay: هارڤکن ݢوروه د لاڠيت, اءير د تمڤاين دچورهکن — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Malay: yang kejar tak dapat, yang dikendong berciciran — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Malay: harapkan guruh di langit, air di tempayan dicurahkan — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Maltese: aħjar għasfur f’idejk minn mija fl-ajru — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Norwegian Bokmål: én fugl i hånden er bedre enn ti på taket — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Norwegian Nynorsk: ein fugl i handa er betre enn ti på taket — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Polish: lepszy wróbel w garści niż gołąb na dachu — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Polish: lepszy wróbel w ręku niż cietrzew na sęku — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Polish: lepszy wróbel w ręku niż sokół na sęku — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Portuguese: mais vale um pássaro na mão do que dois voando — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Romanian: nu da vrabia din mână pe cioara de pe gard — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Russian: лучше синица в руках, чем журавль в небе (lučše sinica v rukax, čem žuravlʹ v nebe) — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Scottish Gaelic: 's fhearr eun san làimh na deich air iteig — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Scottish Gaelic: 's fhearr iasg beag na bhith gun iasg idir — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Serbo-Croatian: боље врабац у руци него голуб на грани (bolje vrabac u ruci nego golub na grani) — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Serbo-Croatian: bolje vrabac u ruci nego golub na grani — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Slovak: lepší vrabec v hrsti ako holub na streche — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Spanish: más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Swedish: bättre en fågel i handen än tio i skogen — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Turkish: bir eldeki kuş çalıdakinin iki misli değerdir — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Ukrainian: краще синиця в жмені, ніж журавель в небі (krašče synycja v žmeni, niž žuravelʹ v nebi) — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Vietnamese: một con chim trong tay có giá trị hơn hai con trong bụi cây — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Walloon: våt mî èn oujhea el mwin ki deus sol håye — small but certain advantage is preferable
• Welsh: gwell bach mewn llaw na mawr gerllaw — small but certain advantage is preferable