Why does wind make leaves rustle?

Answer: Moving air makes leaves shake

Moving air makes leaves shake ✓ — Correct! When wind blows, it swirls around each leaf in quick, uneven gusts. Leaves are light and bend easily, so they flutter back and forth. That fast shaking pushes the air around them, and those tiny pushes travel to your ears as the rustling sound. If the leaf is broad, it wobbles more slowly and gives a lower pitch; a narrow leaf like a pine needle moves faster and sounds different. A leaf on a long, bendy stem swings farther, which is why aspen trees seem to whisper in the slightest breeze.

Wind carries leaf sounds farther — Wrong. Wind can carry a sound that already exists, but it doesn't create the rustling in the first place. If the leaves weren't moving, there would be no sound for the wind to carry. The rustling starts right at the leaf, where the shaking air pushes out little pulses that become sound waves.

Trees amplify wind noise — Wrong. A tree trunk and branches can vibrate a little, but they don't act like a loudspeaker to boost the wind's sound. The rustling comes mostly from each leaf fluttering on its own. When thousands of leaves shake at once, their tiny sounds add up to the familiar whisper you hear.