In the Genesis story of Noah's Ark, Noah first released a raven after the Flood. Genesis 8:7 says he sent it out after the ark came to rest and the waters began to decrease.
The raven “went to and fro” until the waters had dried from the earth. Noah later sent out a dove to test whether the ground had become habitable. The dove returned because it found no place to rest, then came back with a freshly plucked olive leaf on a later flight.
The sequence makes the birds part of Noah's practical search for dry land. The raven and dove serve different narrative roles, and the olive leaf became a widely recognized symbol of peace and renewal in later art and culture.
A frequent mistake is naming the dove as the first bird. The dove is more memorable because of the olive leaf, but Genesis explicitly places the raven's release before the dove's three missions.