The first animal Noah released from the Ark in Genesis was a raven.
Genesis 8:7 says Noah sent out a raven after the waters began to subside. The bird went back and forth until the waters had dried from the earth. Noah then sent a dove on separate occasions to test whether the floodwaters had receded from the ground.
The raven is often overlooked because popular retellings emphasize the dove and its later return with an olive leaf. The two birds serve different places in the sequence: the raven is released first, while the dove provides the more familiar signs of changing conditions.
Genesis does not say that the raven returned carrying an object. It describes the bird moving back and forth, followed by Noah’s experiments with the dove. This sequence is specific to the biblical text and should not be merged with later artistic depictions or simplified children’s versions of the story.