In the biblical Noah's Ark story, Noah first released a raven.
Genesis 8:7 says that Noah sent out a raven after the waters began to recede. The raven flew back and forth until the waters had dried from the earth. Noah then sent out a dove to test whether the ground was clear.
The dove is often remembered more vividly because it later returns with a freshly plucked olive leaf. That image became a widely recognized symbol of peace and the end of danger, but it was not the first bird released in the narrative.
The sequence in Genesis is raven, then dove, followed by further releases of the dove. The story uses the birds as practical signs of changing conditions outside the Ark, marking the gradual retreat of the floodwaters before Noah and his family leave.