A dove first returned to Noah with a fresh olive leaf after the flood.
Genesis 8 describes Noah sending birds from the Ark to discover whether the floodwaters had receded. He first sends a raven, which goes back and forth. He then sends a dove, but it initially finds nowhere to rest and returns. After seven days, Noah sends the dove again, and it comes back in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf.
Noah waits another seven days and sends the dove once more. This time it does not return, indicating that the land is becoming habitable. The olive leaf therefore functions as a specific sign that the waters have gone down, not as the moment Noah immediately leaves the Ark.
The dove and olive branch later became widely recognized symbols of peace, although the Genesis passage itself focuses on the practical message that dry land is reappearing.