In the Genesis account of Noah’s Ark, the first bird Noah sent out was a raven.
Genesis 8 says Noah released the raven after the waters began to recede. The text says that it went back and forth until the waters dried from the earth. Noah then sent a dove to see whether the floodwater had withdrawn from the ground.
The raven and dove serve different narrative roles. The raven is sent first, while the dove is released repeatedly and returns with an olive leaf on its second flight. On the dove’s third release, it does not return, showing that dry land is available.
A common mix-up is remembering only the dove because its olive leaf became a widely recognized symbol of peace and renewal. The raven is nevertheless the first bird explicitly mentioned in the bird-sending episode.