It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae under its current scientific name.

The white-cheeked pintail was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the current binomial name Anas bahamensis.

[2][3] Linnaeus based his account on the "Ilathera duck" that had been described and illustrated by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in the first volume of his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands that was published between 1729 and 1732.

It is mainly brown with white cheeks and a red-based grey bill (young birds lack the pink).

It occurs on waters with some salinity, such as brackish lakes, estuaries and mangrove swamps.