Yes. A vertebrate is an animal with a spine
Yes, all birds are vertabrates.
A hammerhead Shark is a vertebrate, as it has a spine and an internal skeleton.
Like all mammals, black bears are vertebrates because they have a spine and internal skeleton. They belong to the Phylum Chordata. Mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians are all vertebrates.
The phylum Chordata is defined by four characteristic traits: Pharyngeal gill slits, a notochord, a dorsal hollow nerve cord, and a muscular post-anal tail. There are three subphyla of Chordates: Urochordata, Cephalochordata, and Vertebrates. So it depends on what species you are dealing with if you are looking at specifics. But a spine is not a characteristic of all chordates.