Noah sent a dove from the ark three times to test whether the Flood waters had receded.
Genesis 8 first records Noah sending a raven, which went back and forth. He then sent a dove to see whether the waters had diminished from the earth. The dove initially found nowhere to land and returned. After seven days Noah sent it again, and it returned with a freshly plucked olive leaf. After another seven days he sent it a third time, and it did not return.
The olive leaf became a widely recognized symbol of peace and hope, although the biblical passage’s immediate meaning is more specific: it showed that vegetation had become visible above the receding waters. The raven and dove are separate episodes, which is why answers naming a raven do not fit the question’s “three times” wording. Genesis uses the bird’s returns as a practical sign that the landscape outside the ark was becoming habitable again.