In the Noah's Ark story, the raven was the first bird Noah sent out, and it returned with no reported object.
Genesis 8 says that after the waters began to recede, Noah opened the ark's window and sent out a raven. The text says the raven went back and forth until the waters dried from the earth. It does not report the raven carrying a leaf or another sign of land.
Noah then sent a dove to discover whether the floodwaters had withdrawn. The dove first returned because it found no resting place, later came back with a freshly plucked olive leaf, and finally did not return when released again. This sequence makes the raven and dove easy to mix up.
The raven's role is distinct from the dove's more detailed series of flights. The narrative uses the birds as practical indicators of changing conditions outside the ark, while the olive leaf becomes the story's best-known sign that vegetation had reappeared.