In the Genesis story of Noah’s Ark, Noah sent out a dove after it had returned to him.
Genesis 8 describes Noah releasing birds to learn whether the floodwaters had receded. He first sent a raven, which went back and forth. He then sent a dove, but it found no place to rest and returned to the ark. After waiting seven days, Noah sent the dove again, and it came back with a freshly plucked olive leaf. A final release of the dove did not result in its return.
The olive leaf became a widely recognized symbol of peace and renewal, although Genesis presents it first as evidence that the waters were diminishing. The passage distinguishes the raven and dove episodes, so they should not be treated as interchangeable.
This question asks about the bird sent after the first bird episode, not the bird that failed to return. The biblical sequence is raven, then dove, with the dove providing the olive-leaf sign of emerging dry land.