American black bear vs black bear

American black bear and black bear both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
American black bear	Yes	No	No	No
black bear	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, American black bear and black bear are synonyms defined as:

American black bear and black bear: brown to black North American bear; smaller and less ferocious than the brown bear

Other synonyms of American black bear include Euarctos americanus, Ursus americanus.

American black bear (noun)	black bear (noun)
brown to black North American bear; smaller and less ferocious than the brown bear	brown to black North American bear; smaller and less ferocious than the brown bear
	bear with a black coat living in central and eastern Asia