When xend is started, with the default configuration (in /etc/xen/xend-config.sxp), it'll execute /etc/xen/scripts/network-bridge to re-configure your networking.
It'll rename the physical eth0 interface to peth0, change it's MAC address to FE:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, and then create a virtual ethernet interface called eth0, configure it with the real MAC address, and bridge both of those interfaces to xenbr0 bridge.
This way the virtual eth0 interface should have a real MAC, and it can be used for dom0 management, and at the same time allow other VMs/domUs to share the physical ethernet interface by using xenbr0 bridge.