German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster described the black-fronted tern from a specimen collected at Queen Charlotte Sound, Marlborough in 1832, giving it the binomial name Sterna antarctica,[3] however the name had already been used for the Antarctic tern by French naturalist René Lesson the previous year.

[6] Charles Lucien Bonaparte spelled its species name albistriata in 1856, which was adopted by subsequent authors until it was corrected by Walter Oliver in 1955.

A 2005 molecular study by Bridge and colleagues placed it as a basal member of the marsh terns, settling the issue.

[11] Fieldwork on the Wairau River in Marlborough showed that the swamp harrier (Circus approximans) is a common raider of black-fronted tern nests for eggs, with the native black-backed gull (Larus dominicanus) and South Island oystercatchers (Haematopus finschi) also raiding.

), feral cats, the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), hedgehog, dog, and from Australia, the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), and Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen).