Noah first sent a raven from the Ark to inspect the receding waters.
Genesis 8:7 says that Noah sent out a raven after the ark had rested and the waters were diminishing. The raven went back and forth until the waters dried from the earth. Noah then sent a dove, beginning a better-known sequence of tests.
The dove returned because it found no place to rest, and after seven days Noah sent it again. On the second flight, it returned with a freshly plucked olive leaf. A later flight ended with the dove not returning, indicating that the land was becoming habitable.
Popular retellings often mention only the dove and omit the raven. That omission can make the answer seem to be “dove,” but Genesis explicitly places the raven first. The olive branch is also frequently treated as a universal peace symbol, although in the story it first functions as evidence that the floodwaters were receding.