the.com/bird in the hand

means A sure, smaller gain you already hold is worth more than a bigger, uncertain gain you'd have to chase.

from Shortened from the proverb 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,' which draws on medieval falconry — a bird actually gripped on the falconer's glove was a known, secured catch, while birds still hiding in the bushes were just hopeful prospects you might startle away before ever catching them. Versions of this trade-off saying appear across many old languages, suggesting it was common proverbial wisdom rather than a single inventor's line.