What did Noah's dove return with after the Flood waters began to recede?

Noah’s dove returned with an olive leaf after the Flood waters began to recede.

Genesis 8:11 says the dove came back in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf. Noah understood this as evidence that the waters had diminished from the earth. The detail follows an earlier flight, when the dove returned without finding a place to rest, and precedes a later flight from which it did not return.

The Hebrew wording refers to an olive leaf, not specifically to a branch. English retellings often say “olive branch,” and that phrase became a widespread symbol of peace, reconciliation, and hope. The biblical scene itself is more immediate: vegetation has reappeared, showing that the landscape is drying.

The bird sequence is distinct from the raven sent earlier. Genesis does not say that the dove carried a twig, seed, or grain. The leaf is the precise object named in the account.