Birkhoff averages (of an observable along orbits) are objects of interest when investigating statistical behaviour of a dynamical system. If there is a unique physical measure, the Birkhoff averages will converge, for almost every orbit, to the space average (i.e. the integral) of the observable, so the physical measure captures important statistical properties of the dynamical system. However, in the quadratic family, for
example, physical measures don't always exist, and even when they do, they don't necessarily depend continuously on the parameter. In joint work with Alexey Korepanov, we examine what happens for finite time Birkhoff averages for nearby parameters.