Fake or Real?

Early one morning, we found this huge motionless bird on our back patio.  My husband asked if I had placed a fake bird on the patio to keep the mice away?  I said no and walked over to see a fantastically large barn owl.  Could not believe how beautiful she was and how deadly her talons looked.  We stared and stared debating whether to call Animal Control or Fish and Game, as she was so motionless we thought she was dead.  Eventually, she heard us and turned her head.  I found out later that barn owls don’t have peripheral vision, so they have to turn their entire head to see sideways.  How do we know it’s a “she”?  Females often have darker brown feathers around the rim of the facial disc as well as darker bars on the tail and small black spots on the chest and underside of the wings.  This feathered friend eventually took off to find somewhere else to sleep during the day.  I’m sure she didn’t like being stared at while she slept!  I love the Sonoran desert!