Noah dispatched the dove to ascertain whether the water had receded and it returned carrying an olive leaf in its mouth, indicating that the land and the vegetation had started to be exposed. The Sages explain the symbolism of the dove selecting the olive leaf.

“And behold, it had plucked an olive leaf in its mouth” (Genesis 8:11). Rabbi Elazar says: The dove said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe! Let my food be bitter like the olive and given from Your hand, and let it not be sweet as honey and given from the hand of flesh and blood. (Sanhedrin 108b)