In Genesis, Noah first sent a raven out from Noah’s Ark to test whether the floodwaters had receded. Genesis 8:7 says the raven went back and forth until the waters dried from the earth.
Noah then sent a dove on separate occasions. The dove initially found nowhere to rest, later returned with a freshly plucked olive leaf, and finally did not return after being sent out again. Those episodes provide the story’s best-known signs that the land was becoming habitable.
The order matters because popular retellings often mention only the dove and omit the raven. Genesis explicitly places the raven first. The two birds serve different narrative roles: the raven’s repeated flight is followed by the dove’s more specific evidence of emerging vegetation.
The account does not say that Noah released the birds for navigation. He used them to assess conditions outside the vessel while waiting for the waters to subside.