After the raven, Noah sent out a dove in the Genesis story.
Genesis 8:8 says Noah sent the dove to see whether the waters had receded from the ground. The dove first found nowhere to rest and returned to the ark. Noah waited seven days before sending it out again.
On the second flight, the dove returned with an olive leaf. After another seven days, Noah sent it out once more, and it did not return. These repeated releases create a three-stage test of the changing conditions outside the ark.
The dove should not be confused with the first bird in the sequence: Genesis explicitly names the raven first. Nor does the text say that the dove carried a full branch; it specifically describes a freshly plucked olive leaf.