When Walter Rothschild and Ernst Hartert first described Salvadori's teal in 1894, they placed it in the concurrently created monotypic genus Salvadorina.

[3] Initially, it was generally placed with South America's torrent duck and New Zealand's blue duck—two species of similar ecological niches—in a tribe called Merganettini.

[4] Salvadori's teal is endemic to New Guinea; although the type specimen was reportedly collected on the Indonesian island of Waigeo, there is some doubt over the veracity of that claim, as the species is not now found there.

[4] Resident at elevations ranging from 500 to 4,000 m (1,600 to 13,100 ft), Salvadori's teal prefers swiftly flowing rivers and streams,[3] though it is also occasionally found in stagnant lakes.

Hunting, habitat degradation and predation by dogs are among the threats this species faces,[10] and competition with introduced sport fish may also cause problems.