it's better to appreciate what you have over coveting what may or may not be available.

Make the most of what you've got and don't bother about what you might have had.

i always thought this was sort of subjective...you have ONE bird in your hand...there are two birds in a bush near by...are you willing to release that bird thats already in your hand in order to ATTEMPT to trap the TWO birds that are in that bush near by? even though you are risking losing one bird in your hand? (i've heard this iterpreted many diff. ways)

Here is a classic example, to answer your question: You are gambling and win $300 cash. Do you continue to play with your winnings and hope for a bigger win or do you take the money and run? This is where this saying really comes into play. A bird in the hand (the $300) is worth more than two in bush(to continue gambling and lose the $300). Was this a good example?

i don't know but i don't want two hands in my my bush.. that could hurt

It is better to accept or be content with what one has than to try to get more and risk losing everything. Cf. 13th-cent. L. plus valet in manibus avis unica quam dupla silvis, one bird in the hands is worth more than two in the woods. Parodied by the American actress Mae West (1892-1980) in the 1934 movie Belle of the Nineties: ‘A man in the house is worth two in the street.’ It is more sekyr [certain] a byrd in your fest, Than to haue three in the sky a-boue. [c 1450 J. Capgrave Life of St. Katharine (EETS) ii. iii.] Betyr ys a byrd in the hond than tweye in the wode. [c 1470 Harley MS 3362 f.4] You haue spoken reasonably, but yet as they say, One Birde in the hande, is worth two in the bush. [1581 N. Woodes Conflict of Conscience iv. i.] That Proverb, A Bird in the hand is worth two in the Bush, is of more Authority with them, then are all‥testimonies of the good of the world to come. [1678 Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress i. 42] We have an expression in English—A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I don't know anything about that ‘afterwards’. I only know I would like to live another ten years. [1973 G. Greene Honorary Consul ii. iii.] The firm could realise a very good price now. ‥The situation may not be as good as this in three or four years. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. [2002 Oxford Times 18 Jan. 15] A benefit available now is more valuable than some possibly larger future benefit. For example, Bob thinks he might do better in a bigger firm, but his wife insists he should stay, saying a bird in the hand. This expression, which in full is A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, was an ancient Greek proverb. It was well known in English by about 1400 and has been repeated so frequently that it is often shortened. http://www.answers.com/a%20bird%20in%20the%20hand%20is%20worth%20two%20in%20the%20bush The things we already have are more valuable than the things we only hope to get. It isn't until the 19th century that we find the phrase in its currently used form. The earliest I've located is in a US newspaper The Huron Reflector, from January 1833: "But few persons, so prone are we to grasp at the shadow at the expense of the substance, bear in mind the good old adage, 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.'" This refers to the phrase as old. How long the current version predates 1833 isn't clear, but variations of the phrase have been known for centuries. The earliest English version of the proverb is from the Bible and was translated into English in Wycliffe's version in 1382, although Latin texts have it from the 13th century: Ecclesiastes IX - A living dog is better than a dead lion. Alternatives that explicitly mention birds in hand come later. The earliest of those is in Hugh Rhodes' The boke of nurture or schoole of good maners, circa 1530: "A byrd in hand - is worth ten flye at large." John Heywood, the 16th century collector of proverbs, recorded another version in his ambitiously titled A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue, 1546: "Better one byrde in hande than ten in the wood." The Bird in Hand was adopted as a pub name in the UK in the Middle Ages and there are still many pubs of that name there. This refers back to mediaeval falconry where a bird in the hand (the falcon) was certainly worth more than two in the bush (the prey). The term bird in hand must have been known in the USA by 1734, as that is the date when a small town in Pennsylvania was founded with that name. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/64950.html

It basically means what you have now is better than something that looks like more but not in your possession.

a sure thing is better than a chance.

Something obscenely sexual.

Appreciate what you have, not be desirous of that which you have not yet obtained.

To me it means that you should grab the surer opportunity, the one that's closer to you, however smaller. Sometimes you could strive for more, risking it, and end up with nothing. There are many people that might disagree here saying that the people taking risks are the ones that get ahead. That also makes sense. You can read more here: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/64950.html

It is intended to show the value of what you already have (one bird in the hand) as compared against the risk of acquiring something better that you might (or might not) be able to get (two birds in the bush).

It is better to be with your girlfriend rather than that couple of Lesbians in the undergrowth.