In the Genesis Flood account, the first bird Noah sends out from the Ark is a raven. Genesis 8:7 says Noah releases the raven after the waters begin to recede, and it goes back and forth until the waters dry up from the earth.
Noah then sends a dove, creating the better-known sequence in the story. The dove initially returns because it cannot find a place to rest. On a later flight it brings back an olive leaf, and on the final release it does not return. These details signal the progressive restoration of habitable land.
The raven and dove serve different narrative roles. The raven’s movements are described briefly, while the dove’s repeated flights provide the account’s clearest visual markers of changing conditions. Popular retellings sometimes mention only the dove and therefore omit the first bird.
The passage also illustrates that the birds were used as observers, not as messengers carrying a verbal report. Their behavior gives Noah practical evidence about the state of the land outside the Ark.