Noah first sent a raven from the Ark after the Flood waters began to recede. Genesis 8 says Noah opened the window of the ark and sent out the raven, which went back and forth until the waters had dried from the earth.
Noah then sent a dove to test whether the land had become passable. The dove returned because it found no resting place, returned later with a freshly plucked olive leaf, and was sent out once more before it did not return.
The raven and dove serve different narrative functions. The raven’s repeated movement signals that the environment was changing, while the dove provides increasingly clear evidence that dry land was returning. The olive leaf became a widely recognized symbol of peace and renewal, although the Genesis passage specifically describes it as evidence of receding waters.
Later retellings often focus on the dove and olive leaf, so the earlier raven episode is sometimes overlooked.